And the reason why the DM didn't tell you about all his nerfed spells before you made a character was why? Frankly, I don't blame you for leaving in this case, because any DM that crafts his or her game but doesn't tell the players what those changes are until after the fact should have the players get up and leave. But that's on that DM. It's not on you, and it's not on Wizards of the Coast.
But that doesn't mean a DM does not have the right or responsibility to craft the campaign to his or her specifications, if there's a particular style or emphasis they want the game to have. It's just that once they determine what that style or emphasis is... they let their players know all the adjustments so that the players can decide "Is this a game I wish to play?", and also create a character that fits the game.
If you don't wish to do that as a DM, that's absolutely fine. There's no rule that says you have to adjust your game with variant rules or allow/disallow certain things. If you want to run a game using all the default rules in the PHB, that's your right and your choice. But just don't expect WotC to curtail their writing and design decisions so that the book only ends up having those things in it you personally want to see and have. Because that's ridiculous.