Transitioning from Garageband to Logic Pro 9 Help? Many questions =(

Hello all,

My name's Arleigh and I have just purchased and attempted to start using Logic Pro 9 on a brand new Mac. Unfortunately I feel like a monkey banging on a keyboard with this program despite its relative connection to Garageband. I know the in's and out's of Garageband quite well but once I hit the bricks with Logic I have no idea how to do anything. I've tried reading and doing other things but I figured a real response from an actual human being might help a little more.

Here's what i want to know:

How do I, once having opened a track, made notes and composed, manipulate the actual tone and sound of the track? (excluding the obvious options such as the ones in tabs on the main screen)

I'm looking for the Plug-in screen maybe? It's the one with all the options that's advertised on changing the actual sound I'm producing rather than effecting it I think? I don't know, I could really use a good teacher who has some time to talk me through it a little bit or at least a good leader who can point me towards the right articles and websites to read.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

ArleighJ