None of the things some folks complain about Really matter ....
For people who want a comfortable ride to just ride around, there is no need to min/max and optimize everything. Sure you don't need ten inches of clearance ... but it won't hurt. Sure the bike will be heavier ... heavier than a lighter bike. Not everyone really cares.
Sure those big tires will eat up energy ... but not everyone cares.
I'd say you can slap a set of 1.5" slicks on there, pump them up hard, and have a fun around-town casual cruiser.
Sort of like the guys with the lifted pick-ups or jeeps ... they have three-foot-tall tires with tread that could dig the Erie Canal, and are tall enough to run over a playground full of toddlers with disturbing a hair on a head .... and the toughest terrain they face is the speed bumps at the fast-food drive-through. They don't care.
As I said, the Escape is a lot more road-oriented ... but even it is heavy and low-geared and (relatively) fat-tired. If you had presented it as your best option, some wet posters would have complained that you don't need tires fatter than 32 mm, and the bike weighs too much, and you need higher gearing.
Fact is, you can ride a mountain bike on the road .... because IT IS A BICYCLE.
Many many years ago, I got into a bad spot where I didn't have a road bike ready (probably a few untimely breakages and waiting on parts from the bike shop) and needed to go to work. I just road my mountain bike. I hated tearing up the knobby tires on pavement, and it weighed a lot more and was under-geared and the suspension ate up some of my power .... So What? I needed to get to work. I didn't need to win a race or impress anyone or whatever.
I got to work. And if you want to save money, slap some slicks on that Talon and ride it for fun, and later down the road you can buy a bike you might like better .... It is an Option. A Valid option.
In a lot of places in this world, there are a lot of people who will never see a bike as nice as the bikes we call junk. We are so spoiled it is not even comical, it is pathetic.
Ride your bike if you want to. Screw what everyone else says ... forget what I say too. Just live your life.