Perhaps it would be interesting to take the OTL compromises of the early USA on heated issues, and flip them around.
-- The capital is in NYC, but there is no national bank.
-- Jefferson's suggestions to outlaw public debt and public deficits are adopted, but in return there are direct taxes (I assume property taxes, first off) to ensure the government actually stays solvent, and Hamilton gets his strong standing army.
-- Contrarily, while there are direct taxes, there are actually no tarrifs at all (as the South wanted)... but in return, the slave trade is abolished at once.
-- The states all get the same representation in Congress (that is: one vote for each delegation), but the President is elected directly by the people (no Electoral College).
-- The President is elected for life, but conditional on "good behaviour". That is: a recall election can be organised if two-thirds of the state delegations support this.
-- The doctrine of strict constructionalism is rejected, giving the federal government far broader "implied powers". Hamilton rejoices. On the other hand, to ensure that states can escape a federal government that turn tyrannical, secession isn't merely a nebulous doctrine, but explicitly put in the constitution (with clear rules on how the procedure would work). Jefferson also rejoices.
...I'm not saying this would be an improvement, but it would be rather different from OTL.