Recipe(tried): Question about bread machine bread - White bread recipe

When I first got my bread machine, every loaf I made, from packaged mixes of different brands to recipes from different books/internet, came out with hard thick crust on the basic light setting. I thought this was normal but didn't like it. I found a white bread recipe in the kitchen link and the crust turned out normal every time, soft, light, thin, more like good store bought. So I tried another white bread recipe and the crust again is hard. What gives? What makes the dough soft as opposed to hard? I would like to make a whole wheat, multigrain, nut, seed honey recipe (which I have yet to find a good one) with light crust or at LEAST TASTY CRUST. Help? P.S. The recipe on the left makes soft crust, while the one on the right (and others) makes hard, hard crust. (By the way, anyone have the equivalent in tablespoons, teaspoons, ounces for 1/8 cup? I keep running into 1/8. 3/8 cup recipes.)

From Fleischmann's

2 lb Loaf
1-1/8 cups water
3 cups bread flour
1-1/2 tbsp dry milk
2 tbsp sugar
2 tsp salt
2 tbsp butter or margarine
3 tsp active dry yeast

1 1/2 lb Loaf
3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp water
3 cups bread flour
1/4 cup dry milk
4 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp butter or margarine
2 tsp active dry yeast or 2 tsp fast rise yeast