Jackson had a great deal going for him, especially for a democrat. You point out many of his true accomplishments.
He was not the only president to run a surplus—IIRC Clinton ran a couple—and digging one’s way out of a hole is partly a factor of how big the hole is and partly a factor on how many people are digging the wrong way.
Calhoun was for both the union and for small government as well. He, unlike Jackson, had the order correct. Jackson, and you, and I would argue Lincoln, has the order wrong.
FWIW—I greatly admire Jefferson, but think that he went about the Louisiana purchase the wrong way. The Constitution is not divine, but play by the rules all the time if you want the rules to be followed.
The South once voted for Wilson and fdr, too of the biggest big government traitors ever. Now, thankfully, it is a bastion of Conservatism. The New Yorker Cleveland was also a near-great President, as was the Vermonter, Coolidge.