It looks 100% better.
Everything is in the small detail. All aspects of a bike have a correct way to be set up. Then there is making things suit the rider. But to make any adjustments to a setup, you should first start from the correct position.
Being pedantic, handlebars should not be parallel with the ground, they should have a very slight incline, and yes, the tip of the bottom of the brake lever should run out in a line from the bottom of the bars. A Campagnolo straight edge was ideal for this BITD. If you think of your hand position when you are on the bottom of the bars, your hand/wrist is going to be stretched if the bars a not inclined. If you then need to decrease the reach to the brake levers, move them slightly higher up the bend of the bar to suit the rider position, before handlebars are taped. If you have to swivel the bars so far up so that your position is better, then you probably could do with a shorter reach or higher stem. Obviously, before you make any adjustments to the bars and stem, you need your saddle in the correct up/down forward/backward position.
Once you have your perfect position, measure it all and note it down; that then becomes your starting point for your next build. I used to have several different detailed diagrams for different riders so that they always got the perfect position.
