Just need to quickly clarify that which engine you use is dictated by the regulations of the championship you wish to run in, if you wish to do open races or the TKM series you can choose what to run.
So same as before ill try and give a brief simplified explanation of what they are. First lets talk about the clutch, most kart clutches (shifter karts aside) are Centrifugal, to explain centrifugal force try to imagine a conker at the end of a string and as you spin the other end faster and faster the conker becomes further and further away from you. That in mind, lets move on how the rear axle is connected to the engine. this time its not connected directly to the crank, it is connected to a clutch drum that spins on the crank freely.
Inside this drum we have a TAB/HUB this has parts that expand under that centrifugal force we talked about, it has big metal conkers inside that expand and hold on to the drum (Labeled below). thus we have a connection between the crank and the rear axle and therefore POWER. We get the centrifugal force by spinning the crank (just like spinning the conker) and increase/reduce the amount by increasing/reducing throttle.