How the Plan Works

Clinton's proposal to rev up the economy and cut the deficit signals a fundamental shift in priorities. The complex package, described in a 145-page document called A Vision of Change for America, seeks to boost investment in job-creating programs while reducing spending elsewhere, especially in the military budget. To reduce the deficit $325 billion over four years, Clinton proposes dozens of tax increases and 150 spending cuts. The pain is widely distributed. Military and government employees get stung, while the wealthiest citizens take a direct tax hit and the middle class feels the heat of an energy levy. But children and workers currently unemployed find their burdens eased.

* WHAT'S A BTU?

The new energy tax on everything from electricity to gasoline will be paid at the wholesale level by distributors. But the pass-along costs will hit everyone. The tax is based on the heat-producing capacity of most fuels, as measured in British thermal units. In choosing this kind of tax, Clinton sought to spread the burden over all energy users and all regions of the country.

AND AN EIC?

For low-income taxpayers, Clinton's plan expands the earned-income credit to offset the increases in energy costs. The program, which will cost an additional $6.6 billion over four years, gives workers credit for what they earned in jobs, as opposed to money they received from welfare or other government programs. But many taxpayers already fail to benefit from the current provision because they find the forms too complicated to fill out.

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CREDIT: TIME Graphics by Nigel Holmes and Deborah Wells

CAPTION: DEFICIT ESTIMATES

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CREDIT: TIME Graphics by Nigel Holmes and Deborah Wells

CAPTION: TOTAL SPENDING WILL KEEP RISING

Defense outlays will be curbed, but those cuts will be more than offset by the relentless rise of spending for entitlements like Medicare and for interest payment on the national debt. Bottom line: total spending will increase at an annual rate of 3%, roughly the equivalent of 1992's inflation rate but slower than last year's 4.4% spending growth.

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CREDIT: TIME Graphics by Nigel Holmes and Deborah Wells

CAPTION: CUT THE DEFICIT BY $325 BILLION OVER FOUR YEARS

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CREDIT: TIME Graphics by Nigel Holmes and Deborah Wells

From a telephone poll of 800 American adults taken for TIME/CNN on Feb. 18 by Yankelovich Partners Inc. Sampling error is plus or minus 3.5%.

CAPTION: TIME POLL: A CAUTIOUS THUMBS UP