Can you clarify the ``Transistor Man'' concept?

The idea is that the simplified behavior of a transistor can be described as if there's a little guy inside, who controls the current between collector and emitter, $I_c$, according to the current he reads at the base $I_b$. Of course this is just a model, but the ``Transistor Man equation'', $I_c = h_{FE} I_b$ (or its AC equivalent, $i_c = h_{fe} i_b$) works reasonably well for most cases we'll deal with.