Here we develop an in silico model of a VSV infection cycle, incorporating known regulatory interactions and mechanisms and relevant quantitative data from the literature of the past 40 years. These interactions and the corresponding equation formulations are described in detail in the model development section of Materials and Methods. Using the model, we first quantitatively analyze how the intracellular growth of wild-type VSV directs host biosynthetic resources toward VSV gene expression, synthesis of progeny genomes, and pathway switching from the synthesis of VSV intermediates to the production of VSV progeny. We then reveal that the model captures experimental results showing progressive attenuation of virus growth associated with moving the N gene downstream from its wild-type position. Finally, we use the model to predict how altering the positions of other VSV genes and promoters may attenuate the growth of VSV while increasing its potential capacity to activate an adaptive immune response.