I'm not sure what you are reading in regards to Speer being 'geared towards total war'. The most famous and telling turn for Germany towards total war was the Sportpalast Speech by Joseph Goebbels in February, 1943. Total war in the scope of Nazi Germany was generally in regards to their own nation as it became obvious to everyone that the war had turned towards the homeland. This would not have happened until late in the war, specifically after failures on the Eastern Front that began forcing retreats by the German Army back towards Germany.

Is there a particular passage, book or article you are seeing in regards to Speer's thoughts on total war? Certainly he was involved on a day to day level after taking the post of Armaments Minister, however the concept of Total War was used more as a propaganda tool by the Reich leadership (mainly Goebbels) to rally the German public in the face of a potential oncoming catastrophe. There could definitely be some information I do not have here in regards to Speer's feeling or even actions towards total war.

Edit - spelling and extra line. I can get sources if needed, not sure I have anything here that needs to be sourced yet though.