Yes, the fundamental reason is conservation of energy. If there is not enough energy stored in the rocket's fuel to escape the gravity well, it doesn't matter whether you expend it all at once (and fail to reach escape velocity) or expend it over time as in your example. "Escaping the gravity well" from any point takes a well-defined amount of energy (which we call "gravitational potential energy") so your fuel use strategy won't help you in the end.