During his visit to Springfield Wednesday, Barack Obama touted tax cuts and more stimulus checks as a way to turn the economy around.

He also promised not to balance the budget on the backs of working families.

Sen. Barack Obama says, "Let me be clear. If your family is making less than 250 thousand dollars a year you will not see your taxes go up."

After the speech we talked to the senator about more specifics of his budget plans.

Obama says they include rolling back the bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, closing corporate tax loopholes, and cutting what he calls wasteful spending on things like the Medicare Advantage Program.

Sen. Obama says, "We essentially provide subsides to insurance companies to participate in a government program when they don't have a lot of risk involved... that's just giving billions of dollars away."

Even still, Obama admits balancing the budget won't happen overnight and, if elected, maybe not even during his first term.

Sen. Obama says, "We've dug ourselves too deep a hold and I think that anybody who claims they're going to balance the budget in two years or three years just isn't telling the truth."

Long term Obama says the real key to solving the budget crisis is the same thing many families need, reigning in health care costs.

Sen. Obama says, “"That's where the huge growth in government spending and expense is taking place and we've got to make sure we get a handle on health care costs not just for families but for the federal government budget."