Will small producers ever get a reasonable pay option?

If I was in in position of making decisions on Adobe licences, I would make a free one for students and maybe a very low price for non-commercial use. I'm not a business person so can't say what that means for ongoing income but is based on the idea that the more people that use your produc, the better as many of them may become full paying customers in the future.

While Adobe have a lower price for students/education users, it can still be expensive for that group. My guess is that Adobe decided on a pricing model that makes is efficient for them to manage and results in high long term income. The price may be too high for some who are either learning or not making much money fom it, but these users are not Adobe's main market. 
Not sure how helpful that is to you Greybeard but just giving my thoughts on why Adobe has this model.

Creative Cloud on a month-to-month plan costs about 50% more per month but you may cancel it anytime without penalty.  The downside is your monthly rate is subject to increases.  On an annual plan, your rate is guaranteed not to go up for 12 months.

Why doesn't every wedding photographer use a coin operated photo booth?  That's what you're asking for:  pro-level service at pay-to-play prices. 

If you can't eek out enough to pay for tools with your hobby, don't use pro-level tools.  Get Premier Elements instead.  Or use another video editing tool that better fits your budget.

you can subscribe for 1 month.  and you can do that episodically when you need to use adobe software.