Advancing past being a patzer

I love chess, or at least the idea of chess.  I've played off and on since 1972 when Fischer was playing Spassky and like many I was captivated with the idea of an American competing with the vaunted USSR chess machine.  Despite that, I have only progressed as far as maybe a 1200 rating, albeit having played VERY sporadically until this last year or so.

So my question here is this; How does one go about getting incrementally better at chess?  I have at my disposal the following things:

•  Fritz 15 GUI
• Various engines (Komodo 8, Stockfish 8, Rybka 2.3(?) -- basically the free ones
• An ongoing account at Chessbase.com which gives me online play and a host of other features
• A willingness to get an account here as well (or instead) to help the cause

So given these resources, how do I get from playing just so-so chess to being reasonably competitive? I have a basic understanding of my Fritz program as far as that goes, but how to best apply the tools I have toward getting better?  I play folks on line but get my tail kicked most times, and I'm not (yet) a fan of Blitz or (worse) Bullet chess -- I need more time to think!  Are there any books that would help guide me perhaps?

Sorry for the long post, and any help or pointers would be appreciated.

Any and all advice is welcomed! I also play guitar and I learned that by just sticking with it, playing with other people a lot and reading everything I could get my hands on. Now I can play pretty much whatever I want to. I have been doing those same kinds of things in chess, but seem to be getting nowhere lol

Thanks for the replies.  I have many apps on my Android including those made by Asim Periera (iChess,  Analyze This, Follow Chess, etc) plus DroidFish and the Chessbase apps -- plus a couple of other tactics trainers.  I suppose it really comes down to committing the time to study tactics, analyze and catalog my games, study opening and endgame theories.  In other words, a deeper immersion.  I am really just looking for an organized approach to a serious chess study that will maximize my efforts instead of my flailing about as I seemingly have been.

tactics man...alot of tactics

Probably none, to be honest.  I have played more at Playchess.com but not as often as I probably should be.  I'm guessing you already knew this?  The approach at the Chessbase sites is a bit intimidating truth be told.  Not looking to be the next world champion here -- just want to start a track of steady improvement.

seriously though....you dont need all these "tools" and apps....

Having a dictionary and thesaurus in your house wont make you an award winning author.

some sort of tactics trainer, a good endgame book (i recommend Jeremy Silmans) and a strong friend to help go over your games (after youve gone over them yourself of course) will take you a long way.

Just buy a book from Dan Heisman and do exactly as he says. If you do this, there's no reason you should be less than 1500-1600 OTB rating, with a lot of practice of course, but it's a sure way to get there. 

I'd recommend Back to Basics: Tactics. 

This is something that doesn't come easy to me for some reason.  Most of the things I try to do, I succeed at but chess seems to elude me...I miss moves a LOT and I tend to hurry through things and make blunders all too often.
I think I'll reset all the tactics in my tactics trainers and really try to take my time with the puzzles.  Try not to make a move until I have exhausted all the possibilities and arrived at a "best move".  Sometimes, the best move as offered in the trainers seems illogical to me, mostly (I'm guessing) because the reason it is the best won't be obvious until later in the game at hand.

Does that require more than a basic membership?

Also, engines in the hands of beginners aren't "tools" - they will probably hinder you much more than help you. 

If a beginner wants an engine, get a weak one, and not a strong one. 

If you have experience building a skill that makes it easier.

That's pretty much it: play a lot, read a lot.

In chess though the feedback loop may be your problem. I.e. if you play an instrument poorly, you can hear it. If you blunder in a chess game, you may never know.

So play long games where you're never just guessing a move quickly because you're low on time. Then after the game compare the opening against a database, and use an engine to find the big blunders. (Don't pay attention to ever little inaccuracy, just look for the big stuff).

Other than that, read books and try to find a local chess club where you can play and talk with stronger players.

If for some reason that's impossible (you really should try to do this, if you're determined to get better) but if it's impossible, then there are online groups like this:
https://www.chess.com/club/slow-chess-league

All that said, one of the most fundamental building blocks is tactics. Find something to do that's fun (like playing online) but then also dedicate, lets say, 30 minutes a day to tactics. Not with chess.com's tactics trainer where the low level puzzles aren't even tactics at all, but with a tactics book that groups puzzles by theme and gives some explanations for you. For example:
https://www.amazon.com/Back-Basics-Tactics-ChessCafe-Chess/dp/1888690348

Doing some tactic puzzles every day comparable to a musician practicing scales. Some patterns should become automatic, and even professionals will do drills to keep themselves sharp.

https://www.facebook.com/Carlisle-Chess-Club-232079843604515/

This is a great way to put it. Do tactics enough and it will almost seem like second nature to spot them. Then when you are less likely to hang material from tactis, its easier to focus a bit more on the positional aspects of the game

At one point I was joining this group, but the gentleman who was leading it took ill I believe. I'll check it out though - I'd sort of forgotten about it really.

@SiberianKhatru

My rating is pretty low compared to some responders, and I don't have as much chess experience as you.  But I have been able to guide my son's chess progress to winning his sections at tournaments from the ground up.

Here's what I think: there's a slight difference between learning "deep" chess and winning games.  And here's the deal if you only want to win games: when you play a game, usually you get matched to opponents of similar strength; so to win most game, you don't need to be any stronger than what is needed to beat opponents of that strength.