I wish there was a good beginner level entry point with a kit or something. But most of what I saw was "you need to build your own tools and then you can start" and that's too high a barrier for me.
Is there by chance a simulator of this on Steam if a good beginner hobby kit doesn't exist?
Bah, don't listen to 'em. Inexpensive set of jeweler's screwdrivers, and pair of precision tweezers, some sort of magnifying device, and a couple oils (use Liberty oil for the pivots, it's cheap but good enough to start). Cheap oiler tools off eBay or amazon. I have maybe $50 in tools.
Buy some cheap movements off eBay, and dive in. Yeah, you'll lose parts and break things but you'll learn a bunch.
I have a couple Westclox watches from the 60s that I bought for $10/each on eBay, and they both now run at +/- 2 seconds a day.
A set of small screwdrivers (at least one 0.8mm and one 1.2mm or so), pointy tweezers and a movement holder should be all you need to try the hobby out.
The screwdrivers and tweezers should be of good quality though, at least get the ones that cost 3-4$ each from China.
And you don't even need a mechanical watch. Cheap quartz watches also have tiny interesting parts in them that you can try to disassemble and reassemble.
Is there by chance a simulator of this on Steam if a good beginner hobby kit doesn't exist?