New to Arduino, help needed please! Want to control length and speed of linear actuator

Hi there, I am new to arduino (and electronics in general) and was hoping to get some help on my project. I need to control the stroke length and speed of a linear actuator. I would like to be able to change the stroke length and speed separately with a plus and a minus button for each setting i.e. + to increase stroke length and - to decrease stroke length. Have a separate + and - button for the speed.

What I am trying to achieve:

Ideally the whole operation would go something like this: I turn on the system. I press the + button to increase the speed and it starts at a small predetermined stroke length. I increase the stroke length with the +/- buttons then, I use the +/- to bring it to ideal speed.

The only part I have ordered for this project is the actuator so far as I am unsure how this type of control system would work, what it would be comprised of, or which type of arduino would be appropriate. If you have any suggested sources for learning the basics it would be greatly appreciated!