Could someone put me on a proper starting point and in the right direction?

The problem with learning audio engineering is not primarily gaining facility with a particular DAW, but rather the extensive experience needed to train your "ear" to recognize what works, and the even more considerable experience with the different kinds of processes so that you will be able to tell what will likely work before you hear it. Those are the skills that you need to master and it will probably take at least several years to get there with regular practice. Most skill mastery requires in the area of 10,000 hours of practice, which a professional audio engineer working eight hours a day, fifty weeks a year will acquire in about five years. The intellectual mastery of concepts like digital signal processing or mathematics will not provide you with the skillset you need by itself anymore than understanding how a violin is built will make you a violinist. Attending a four year college level course in audio engineering, would be primarily useful for the considerable mass practice it might entail, and the credential you might need to be taken seriously by someone hiring you as an intern or starting engineer. Those people are mostly going to be reluctant to spend time and money on an unknown. The courses that offer you a few weeks of training will not provide anything more than access to a skilled (maybe) trainer to give you some feedback and a basic overview. If you are doing freelance work, then the issue is quality and to a lesser extent speed and facility with the process. If you cannot create a decent track at all, or if it takes you dozens of hours to produce a professional quality track, you will not be able to afford to take work at prices competitive with other professionals.
 
In any event, if you have the time and motivation you can use Sonar to hone the skills, after which you could probably switch to any other DAW and achieve good facility in a matter of weeks, not years.