It's a bit silly to say you quit when you topped 60mb in your node modules directly, something you never have to look at and doesn't represent what gets built in to the final app. There's tons of dependencies when dealing with the .NET toolchain.
There are hundreds of directions you could go in, and I consider that a good thing. There are choices, but there are recommended paths for beginners as well.
It sounds to me like you're hating on a toolchain that you don't have any experience in.