President Barack Obama vowed yesterday to stick to the big-ticket items in his budget proposal but acknowledged that dollar amounts would "undoubtedly change" as Congress prepared to take up his record spending plan.

Trying to refocus attention from the AIG bonus scandal that has drawn public outrage, Obama stepped up defense of his US$3.55 trillion budget for fiscal 2010, a linchpin of his efforts to rescue the ailing economy from the worst crisis in decades.

"It's an economic blueprint for our future, a vision of America where growth is not based on real estate bubbles or over-leveraged banks, but on a firm foundation of investments in energy, education and health care that will lead to a real and lasting prosperity," Obama said in his weekly radio address.

The budget committees of the Senate and House of Representatives were set to begin crafting their budget legislation next week.

Republicans and even some of Obama's fellow Democrats who control Congress have complained that his budget, the first of his presidency, is too costly. It projects deficits of US$1.75 trillion this fiscal year and US$1.17 trillion next fiscal year.

But Congressional budget experts have projected a US$1.8 trillion deficit this year, which could complicate Obama's efforts to win passage of his 2010 budget.

Taking on his critics, Obama said: "These investments are not a wish list of priorities that I picked out of thin air. They are a central part of a comprehensive strategy to grow this economy by attacking the very problems that have dragged it down for too long: the high cost of health care and our dependence on foreign oil, our education deficit and our fiscal deficit."

Reminding listeners that he had inherited a "fiscal mess" from George W. Bush, Obama reiterated his pledge to cut the federal deficit in half by the end of his term.

(Agencies via Shanghai Daily March 22, 2009)