Kind of the point of Pentax is they don't really *make* things so 'watered down.' If you can't afford the latest sensor, wait a year and a half or two. Meanwhile, there's the one from the previous cycle. In the time and money the OP's spent chasing a new system, there's been K-5's for hundreds less around, even, and there's K-7s not looking so inaccessible, too. If money's the issue, sitting tight works.
Pentax isn't a big electronics company like some, but the good stuff is *still* accessible: every camera body depreciates when someone first opens the box, but paying for the latest whizbang or spec-on-paper is something that doesn't set a camera apart for *long* these days, while a lousy finder is a lousy finder, ..which is a real thing to consider.
If they wanted to make a 'stripped down' camera, it ought to be solid and basic, with only what makes better images, not putting fancy features in a crappy casing.