I kind of accidentally all over the page
How are you defining the action as being too high? String action is different on many guitars for a reason, not least so that when you frett the guitar you don't get dead spots or frett buzz on what is supposed to be an open string. (indeed, instruments like resonator guitars have a deliberately high action because of how they are meant to be played - they need more room for the string to vibrate)
Comparing a top quality expensive guitar with a budget instrument is a false comparison - I can play with the same skill and confidence on my seagull as my taylor, even though the taylor cost 3 times as much as the seagull. The string action is definitely lower of the taylor.
The things that sets the two guitars apart are the tone, sustain and quality of material and workmanship; Both are good, but the taylor is better. What brings the two guitars on parity, is my ability to play.
Note: acoustic guitars will always have a higher action than electrics. Likewise one of the Taylors I looked at a little while back had a terrible action, way too high and the neck was not adjusted right at all. Guy in the shop said guitars vary and it's how they're made... huh, the guitar in question was on the shop display, so had likely been out of its case for some time. I asked to see the other two from out in the stores, both in their cases. Guess what - great actions with proper adjustment of the necks.
PRO TIP - when buying a guitar and you've decided on a particular model, see if you can look at more than one instrument of the same type/model and compare them. Also, if you have a choice, don't buy the one that's the shop demo, it most likely has seen too many tyre-kickers.
Anyway, back to the guitar... Is the neck straight with a little recurve to it? I ask as it may be possible to tweak the truss rod slightly to improve the action, you can also do stuff like sand the bridge down a tad... neither solution is a diy option if you don't know what you're doing. But a competent guitar repair place could tell you if it can be done. Also, if your mate will let you
Something else worth thinking about, and I'm just throwing this out there: how strong are your hands? I don't mean how many rocks can you crush in them or to suggest you are some kind of wimpy girly-man, but how strong are your hands for shaping chords and running scales etc? If you're just starting out, I'd say the answer is 'not very'. If you have no callouses on your fingertips and you fingers get sore on the pads after a half hour, I'd say the answer is
definitely not very 
After years of playing bass and acoustic guitar, I have virtually no feeling in the tips of the fingers of my left hand because of hard skin (a useful side effect of this is I can pick up hot things and not get burned haha). This and the automatic shape acquisition of the muscles in my forearm, hand and fingers is not an ability that comes easily and like any fine motor skill needs constant practise to maintain - Something the beginner has yet to achieve.
Now, here's something I think is important to take on board, I was told this when starting out: Learning to play on an acoustic with a 'strong action' will give your hands strength and hone your dexterity and accuracy. It will also teach your technique not to be
lazy.
The clearest example of this theory is to look at how much easier it is to play an electric guitar over an acoustic, because of the thinner strings and lower string height. Now, take two guys starting out, the first chap plays acoustic with it's 'disadvantages'. The second guy plays electric with its 'advantages'. In terms of beginners the guy who started out on acoustic guitar will have an easier time of playing the electric than the second guy will have moving from electric to acoustic, despite the second guy coming from the instrument with the so-called 'advantages'.
Learning to play on a guitar that is 'good enough' as opposed to one that is 'perfect' will only be good for you in the long run. I can say this from a position of more than a decade of playing stringed instruments.
Sure, everyone has a dream guitar, or motorbike or car or whatever. Just forget about all of that and play, because the real pleasure of playing an instrument is not found in the superficial appreciation of the quality of fine craftsmanship, or even perfect intonation of an instrument (though these aspects do have their merits), but simply enjoying the music as an extension of your vocabulary to speak to other musicians or to an audience, even if sometimes that audience is only you.
But like most things, you get out what you put in
(and I think I put in enough here already hehe).
