Although most comp plans are confusing, there is a good reason for that:
compensation plans must be complicated in order to be balanced.
In other words, so that the "little guy" who is part time and just starting out can be paid well for his efforts, and the full time, stud of the earth networker can reach the dream income.
If a comp plan is too simplistic, it will be too heavily slanted towards either the part time or full time person.
As for binary, that would depend on the individual comp plan of the company. If you are looking at an opportunity, ask your sponsor what resources are there (even if it's just an explanation from them) to help you make sense of it. One thing that helps a lot of people is drawing circles on paper
I am with a company with a binary plan. If you wish to email me privately I will help you if I can...one thing I can tell you that no matter what anyone says, it's not about "just get two".
Carrie