Thank you all the the helpful replies. Just to review a few items - 

Thankfully I have no issues with my fingers or hands, no arthritis, etc. Issue is fingers often laying down on other strings, I do not have big hands, or wide fingers, fingers are rather slim. I'm working on Fundamentals 2, lesson 6. Learn song: Searching high and low. Concerning the time spent, today marks 8 days on this lesson, I'm trying to move in a slow, smooth transition to the 3 chords (Am, C, D) in the lesson. My practice is 45 minutes daily (Monday/Friday weekends if time permits), 45 minutes is my limit when my finger tips become uncomfortable. After a 24 hour break I can comfortably go back. 

For sticking with the original chords - I'm now trying different fingers. Example for the Am using index, middle, ring, playing each string there is muting always on the G string, sometimes on the B string. I'm trying to replace the ring ringer with my pinky, with that modification each string rings clean. 

For Guitar - I have the Taylor Big Baby-E, which has a nut with of 1.68".

Thanks,

Bob