Is it possible to make an analogy between a lever and an airplane wing in terms of force applied over distance?
Well, they call them air PLANES for some reason.  Maybe not a lever, how about a ramp?

How does 1/4th the thrust lift a given weight?  One consideration that is very important for aviators is to realize the best way to use thrust is to create speed.  Speed creates lift.

It is indeed a minor miracle that the airflow over a wing at flying speed creates so much upward force.  One way to see how this works is to look at the back of a boat while it is travelling slowly.  See the swirls and eddies of the water in the wake.  Now speed up and the water separates from the stern and forms a wave behind the boat. The lack of water at the stern is the same as air being deflected away from the top of the wing at sufficient speed.
This area of lower pressure near the wing is lift.  How much to lift a one ton Cessna? The wing is roughly 5 x 40 = 200 square feet.  200 square feet x 144 square inches/square feet = 28800 square inches.  2000 pounds/28800 square inches = 0.07 psi.  Not much, but it works!

Slow down and the wave collapses back to the boat.  This is a stall on a wing.  So lift is INDIRECTLY produced from thrust by forward motion (and angle of attack).