Your comparison is fair and accurate. I do prefer the older version though. I preferred how the original framed each of their stories in a flashback and feel that the character development was much better done. It is very close for me however, and I didn't think I would enjoy the new one as much as I did, mainly because I think Tim Curry is amazing and played Pennywise perfectly. Surprisingly, I think Skarsgard did an amazing job and he was definitely my favorite thing about the movie.
I think a strong argument can be made that the first half of the 1990 version is better, I think I may have preferred the ending to that first half better than the ending in the new one as well, the second half was just a mess though, I'm interested to see Chapter Two of the new one!
I do agree with that, I used to sometimes just watch the first half and turn it off.