A good way to understand the FTC is this: sum of of the change in the middle is the total at the edges. Let's unravel that. Think about $f$ as the amount of some fluid. Then $f^\prime$ is the change in the amount of fluid. Ask the question: what is the total amount that the fluid changed? To calculate this, you would just add the amount of change at each point. Integration is really an infinite summation, and so the total amount of change in the interval $[a,b]$ is
$$ TotalChange= \int_{a}^{b} f^\prime(t) dt $$
But how are things changing? If there is a total change in the amount of fluid, it has to be leaving through the boundaries. Things change going over the $b$ boundary by going positive, and change by going over the $a$ boundary by going in the negative direction, and so the other way of calculating the total change is
$$ TotalChange = f(b) - f(a) $$
In total, this means
$$ \int_{a}^{b} f^\prime(t) dt = f(b) - f(a), $$
which is the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus.
This generalizes. In Multivariable calculus you learn Green's Theorem and Stokes' Theorem. Then you learn Stokes' Theorem on manifolds. It's all the same idea: the sum of the change is equal to the sum along the boundary. We can write this succinctly as
$$ \int_{\Omega} d\omega = \int_{\partial \Omega} \omega $$
but it's really the idea that matters. Notice this is the same thing as before: the boundary of the interval $[a,b]$ is the points $a$ and $b$, so the sum of the change is the sum of the boundary. Mathematicians will say Stokes' theorem on manifolds is the true FTC, but it's all the same. If you understand this idea, then you understand the FTC.
Now for part two: why does that derivative formula work out? Let's just do it algebraically. Let $F$ be a function such that $F^\prime = f$. Then
$$ \int_{a}^{x} f(t)dt = f(x) - f(a) $$
by the FTC. But since $a$ is a constant, $f(a)$ is a constant, so taking the $x$ derivatives of both sides gives
$$ \frac{d}{dx} \int_{a}^{t} f(x)dx = f'(x). $$
What this is saying is that the antiderivative $\int$ is somewhat the same as integration from a constant $a$ to a variable $x$. The end is result may differ by some (arbitrary) constant, but when you take the derivative again, that constant drops out.
Note that I fluffed over all of the details about having $f^\prime$ continuous etc., once you know the idea you can work out the details.