Hesitate to say modernized XCOM, but a great game with biweekly dev improvements :)
Both the base building and combat ramp up in difficulty quickly (considering the time it takes to play through). I would not be surprised if there was a crossover to fans of this genre of games and recent roguelikes. You learn by losing. There is no tutorial or buddy popping up to tell you what is around the corner or what you should be doing next. You learn the systems and thus learn the game. The discovery of new challenges is exciting and if you arent easily frustrated, very rewarding as well. It's like learning to play chess. The best way to get better, is just to put your pieces back down on the board and try again knowing what you've learned from the previous game.
The air combat is almost a worthwhile tactical game in itself. Instead of a simple sort of stat based outcome, you control the flight paths of your fighters. You can do whatever you want here. You get early exposure to the combat system before there is a real threat, allowing you to learn the benefits of the afterburner, evasive maneuvers and movement of your jets. Trying to flank an opposing fighter or failing to land a hit with your last missile can be almost as intense as the ground combat itself (especially when considering the economic and defensive/offensive impact) feeling the results as harshly as you ever did in the original XCOM for even a brief mistake.
The game is still in Beta. This comes with the risks associated with all games in beta. You never know if the dev is going to continue supporting their game, esp if the sales don't give them much reason to. They seem to be working earnestly to make this product as good as possible; in stark contrast to another recent game in this genre *cough* XCOM EU *cough*
It also already has a growing modding community and was made modder friendly by the devs. If nothing else, it's worth your time to take a look There are plenty of Youtube Let's Play's of the game which may allow you to sway your decision one way or the other.