Obama budget looks to put dent in record debt

>>> president obama sends congress his 2012 budget plan tomorrow. a proposal that including more than $1 trillion in cuts. that may sound like a lot but republicans say it falls short. mike is at the white house to tell us more. good evening.

>> reporter: good evening. there's been a bipartisan calm over the capital since last year. but with big budget and spending fights looming next week, all that is about to change. even as the obama budget was being readied for release this weekend the president warned it will reveal some painful choices on spending.

>> it cuts what we can't afford to pay for what we cannot do without. that's what families do in hard times . and that's what our country has to do as well.

>> reporter: today, top officials said the plan will put a dent in now-record debt and deficits.

>> we have a responsible budget that will cut in half the deficit by the end of the president's first term.

>> reporter: the plan would freeze domestic spending for five years and slash $78 billion of military spending including a new fighter engine and more c-17 cargo planes. cut $100 billion from college pell grants , in part, by ending payments for summer school . take $2.5 billion or 50% from low-income heating a substance and limit the mortgage interest deduction for the wealthy along with other cuts it adds up to more than $1 trillion in deficit reduction over the next ten years. still, just a fraction of the projected total.

>> we're broke.

>> reporter: republicans are proposing deeper and faster cuts.

>> what's really dangerous is if we continue to do nothing and allow the status quo to stay in place. when are we going to get serious about cut k spending?

>> reporter: driven by tea party conservatives this week house gop leaders will vote on cuts totalling $100 billion from this year's budgets affecting a range of items from foreign aid to head-start.

>> these are not easy cuts but we understand that our country is on a path to fiscal ruin and if we want to get the economy going, we want to get people back to work this is one of the first steps we need to take.

>> reporter: and lester, the total debt of the country is now above $14 trillion and even with all the talk of cutting the budget, there's no talk, no formal proposals on the table to tackle the biggest-ticket items of all, social security and medicare. lester?

>> mike at the white house tonight for us. thank you.