Ok...I hear what you're saying here, and even as a big girl I know that pouring myself into too tight pants may make the belly look flatter under the waistband, it's gonna cause problems over top of them....
But I have a different problem with pants...
I have like a 14 inch difference between my waist and my booty, and if I get pants to fit my ass, which obviously is necessary, lol, the waist is easily 8-10 inches too big and then I have a big gap in the back where the whole world can see what color panties I'm wearing today.
Sometimes you just can't win!