Obama to Sell Stimulus Package in Series of Town Hall Meetings

when Mr. Obama visited in August, the unemployment rate there was 8.9 percent; now it's 15.3 percent, among the highest in the nation.

The president, nearing three weeks in office, said he wanted to come to the Midwest to assure people that he's working hard to turn the economy around.

Mr. Obama said the nation is facing "an economic crisis as deep and as dire as any since the Great Depression."

Obama implored Congress to take action, saying the nation can't afford to wait. "Economists from across the spectrum have warned that if we don't act immediately, millions more jobs will be lost, and national unemployment rates will approach double digits."

He outlined some of the specific ways his plan could help the Indiana community and the nation, including tax relief and college assistance. He also warned about expecting miracles.

"I'm not going to tell you that this bill is perfect. It isn't," he said. "But it is the right size, the right scope, and has the right priorities to create jobs that will jumpstart our economy and transform it for the twenty-first century. I also can't tell you with one hundred percent certainty that everything in this plan will work exactly as we hope."

The House bill has more spending and less tax cuts than the scaled back Senate version. A Republican leadership aide predicted tough times in trying to agree on a final bill in the next several days. A Democratic aide said, "I think we'll do it, but it'll be a heavy lift."

Aside from the stimulus bill, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is expected to unveil steps on Tuesday to help U.S. banks battered by the financial crisis with government insurance of bad assets, a plan to shift toxic securities off bank balance sheets and money to modify homeowner mortgages.