You would still have access to the campus at your flagship - the career center, in particular. The professors would have online office hours and would be more available due to the difference in academic cultures.
Finally, the general education classes aren’t wasted time - if you choose well they can complement your major, they ensure you’re well educated and can understand the world (the intellectual versatility they imply is a big reason there’s such a difference in critical thinking between college graduates and high school diploma graduates), and in a study older people typically say the class they remember most fondly tends to be a gen ed class, often philosophy, art history, music, or a class opening students to another culture. (Steve jobs credits his ability to turn Apple into the behemoth we all know … to a calligraphy class.)
Don’t see the UK program as a shortcut. If you don’t have 5 APs they may admit you to a foundation year where you take the equivalent of gen eds anyway… The UK system is very different from what you know. You’ll likely only have 4+4 classes your first year, and 3+3 your second. Most of your learning will come from reading books and writing papers about them, with the professor criticizing the paper.
And if you get an online degree I don’t see how you can go do research, which is a fundamental part of your grad school application.
Perhaps if you do the online degree at your flagship, you can switch to “in person” “on campus” once you’re better and thus get to build a better resume.
What’s the smaller state school? Depending on what it is, it may or may not be the right choice…some small state schools are good (Truman state), some wouldn’t work for a strong student who wants to go to grad school because the Dept of interest would be too small.