Take a pay cut to move from ER to PE?

I have been working in ER for a bulge bracket firm over the last four or so years now. Currently an Associate and likely will take anywhere from 4-7 years to hit VP. Not working in the big countries (US, UK, etc) so the career progression is quite different and the pay is a tad lower (still great when accounting for COL).

Recently received an offer for a middle-market PE firm but will have to come in with a 25% pay cut (on base) due to lack of deal experience, which I completely understand. Bonus is higher most likely and will even out the total annual compensation, even if I don't get carry yet (was being paid pathetic bonuses at ER). Career progression for past analysts in the PE firm is usually 5 years to VP from where I would be.

I'm not really enjoying the work at ER anymore and that's what brought me to consider applying for PE roles in the first place. I've also started to worry about exit ops over the longer term since ER does not really allow you to do much unless you build a great network with the management teams of the companies you cover. Moving to PE will likely address these two issues. On the flip side, I expect the hours to get a lot longer and rougher and the stress to be worse (deal flow is really strong this year). 

Most of the people I've asked are saying it's still a no-brainer to take the new offer, and I personally am leaning towards it myself. Just wanted to check with WSO on their opinions and help me if I've missed out on anything else important to consider (WSO also helped me with this ER gig years back anyway).