Strategy in applying for positions that are junior to my experience level

Have been applying and interviewing the past few months since my last firm decided to shut down all three of their regional offices (including mine in SoCal). While many have commented that the job market (at least in SoCal) has been fairly healthy compared to other markets, it seems like most positions are either analyst/associate, or younger VP level (i.e. 7-10 year experience).

I have had a couple of interviews where the interviewer literally told me that my salary expectations based on my experience (17 years acquisitions and asset mgmt) were probably higher than what the firm was looking to pay. I feel like this sorta puts me in a tough position, which I am trying to think through ways of spinning into a positive. My last employer was paying me what I felt was a commensurate base salary (high $100k's base with 50-100% target year end bonus and 3-5% carry in deals I sourced and closed). Owner/operator GP with about $2B AUM.

I realize that some firms, depending on size and level of activity, would probably view that as a huge outlay of comp. i.e. if they are looking for a VP with 10 years of experience, they might be looking to pay $125-$150k plus bonus/carry. If I like the firm and believe in the platform, I'd be open to taking less than what I made previously, but how do I articulate that to the firm without them thinking I am simply "telling them what they want to hear" in order to win the offer? I could understand how a firm might be skeptical that the employee would bolt the moment a higher paying job came around.

I am dealing with this very topic with a firm that I believe would be a great match, the feedback they gave me was that they were still figuring out how senior of a deal person they wanted to bring on. I'd like to go back to them with a well thought out pitch, and was curious how others might look to address the issue.