The point of complex numbers is that you can calculate with them as with real numbers, because they obey all the axioms of a field concerning the fundamental arithmethics of + and ##\times##.
At the same time of course you can interpret real and imaginary part of a complex number as Cartesian coordinates in an Euclidean plane (Gauss's plane of numbers). This has great advantages, because it simplifies standard tasks like, e.g., rotations. The rotation of a vector ##\vec{x}=(x,y)## can be very easily calculated by writing ##z=x+\mathrm{i} y## and then the rotated vector is given by
$$z'=\exp(\mathrm{i} \phi) z,$$
where ##\phi \in \mathbb{R}## is the rotation angle (in radians) which you can easily check by using
$$\exp(\mathrm{i} \phi)=\cos \phi+\mathrm{i} \sin \phi$$
and multiplying out the product, splitting it again in real and imaginary part.