The two men directing everything since day one have been Baelish and Varys. One is manipulating everything in the west now, and one is dictating things in the east. I've suspected Baelish's goal has been to control Westeros from the beginning.
When Baelish told Varys that "chaos is a ladder" it was the most explicit declaration he's ever made about his intentions.
I don't think Littlefinger's plans, at least until recently, have been that well defined. I think his plan originally simply started out as gain power and take revenge, how much power was probably beyond the scope of his cares at the time.
I once read someone describe Littlefinger and Varys as yin and yang. One is chaos, the other is order. Varys is very bad at adapting on the fly. He has a long term game plan in mind (restoring the Targaryens) and knows exactly how he wants everything to play out to get there.
Littlefinger, on the other hand, just goes with the chaos. He may have a long term goal (the throne) but he is far better at adapting to circumstances.
For example: Varys wanted Ned sent to the wall after declaring Joffrey rightful king, which would create tension and uncertainty with the North but not war, which Varys did not want to come to pass (as it makes it that much harder for Dany to unite the seven kingdoms). Meanwhile, Littlefinger saw that as an opportunity to capitalize and use the chaos to expand his own power. Some speculate that he even gently nudged Joffrey into executing Ned.
In essence, Varys is Lex Luthor, Littlefinger is the Joker. Both are masterminds, but one uses order to get what he wants, the other uses chaos. One is rigid, the other adaptable. Varys is a chessmaster, with every move carefully planned 10 moves in advance. Littlefinger on the other hand just rolls the dice and goes with the outcome and then flips it to his advantage.
