How do you like your dictator?
You'll still find that level of complexity, if not more, in Tropico 3. You pretty much play a dictator where the campaign revolves around completing certain objectives. Like mining a certain amount of gold, or exporting a certain amount of fish, etc.
You need to manage your economy by first farms, then mining, then industry, and finally onto manufacturing and tourism. You'll need to make sure your citizens have plenty of living space, such as hotels or apartment complexes. You'll need to make sure you have top of the line transportation. You'll need to make sure that your citizens are happy with their living conditions, such as having multiple apartment complexes or houses rather than tenements, so high quality housing. You'll need to make sure you get the food to your people. You need to make sure the health of your nation is up and running. You need to establish a disciplinary system to enforce the law and prevent any outlaws. The police protect a local district from mischief and the army comes in when the rebels go violent. You'll need to educate your citizens through high schools and colleges. You'll need to make sure they receive the proper religious benefits. You need to make sure the town looks clean. You need to make sure that roads are built. You need to make sure that each political party (intellectuals, militarists, communists, capitalists, religious, etc.) are happy. You need to make sure that you have enough support to win an election, to go through hard times, and keep the morale up. You need to make sure that shacks don't fill up your town and remove them as soon as possible.
You'll need to do all that. It seems just as complex as Sim City, although you don't need to manage power throughout the city, manage neighboring nation's happiness (besides the US and Russia), set down a proper sewage system, or anything like that. But you do need to manage each and every need of your citizen's needs.
It's a pretty complicated game, but once you get the hang of it, you'll be a pro. Honestly, it feels a lot repetitive. Just build some farms to get your economy up, then focus on housing, jobs, and then the tourist industry. Sure, you'll get manufacturing and what not, but in the end, you're still doing the same thing. Thank god the learning curve is high so a casual player will attempt to beast at this game or return back to MW2.