Well I have no idea about the Nikon glass, but from my experience most compact lenses with a large zoom range don’t perform as well optically as lenses with a lesser range. That is generally reflected in the price difference.

 

IS (VR Nikon) is at its most useful at longer focal lengths for obvious reasons, On the Canon lenses the there are two types of IS one is to reduce camera shake and one is to reduce panning blur, the higher spec lenses have both modes whilst some lenses don’t have the panning mode, I suspect that Nikon have a similar difference. (Speculation)

 

As you say though, a 70-200mm lens is somewhat limited in its versatility; I know that my 70-200mm was used less than any other lens in my kit.

 

They wouldn’t have made the cane if you weren’t meant to break the rules