Transistor Problems

Yea that looks pretty messed up.

;D I literally laughed out loud because that's so darn true!

I'm trying to build a variable power supply cheaply using the variable voltage regulator LM317.

The circuit I showed is pretty stupid looking because I'm trying round-and-about fixes :P. I never really thought about Transistors being current amplifying, but I guess that's true :P.

The range I was looking for was anywhere from about 2-40 volts, so that's why directly using the MCP4251's pots is out of the question. Is there anything that can amplify power in the same manner as a transistor, but with voltage rather than current?

Thanks for muddling through my babbling nonsense!