I know this is a 7 year old thread, but this is the first result when searching 'chain rings too close' on Google. I personally struggled with this for close to 6 hours, taking the crank off and on and testing different orientations until I figured out what was wrong. I found that I was mounting the outermost chainring on the inner side (towards the bicycle) of the crank, when it should have been on the pedal side (away from the bicycle). I was confused because of videos I watched (other types of crank/chainrings) putting it on the other side.
So, to whoever ends up in this thread - if your middle chainring is too close to the outer, consider that your outer chainring might be mounted on the wrong side of the crank. Ultimately, the recommended orientation most people mention was correct, it was just that the outer chainring needed to have the crank itself as the spacer between it and the middle chainring.
Specifically, mine is a Shimano Deore Crankset.