US PRESIDENT-ELECT Barack Obama will meet key congressional leaders tomorrow to finalise a more than $1.2-trillion economic stimulus plan that Democrats hope to pass shortly after Mr Obama takes office on January 20.
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The meeting will be Mr Obama's first with Capitol Hill lawmakers since his November 4 election victory and his first high-profile act in Washington after moving to the capital a week ago.
As his daughters Sasha and Malia head to their first day at a new school, Mr Obama heads to work, meeting the heads of both legislative houses, including Senate Democrat leader Harry Reid and House of Representatives speaker Democrat Nancy Pelosi.
The talks will centre on a recovery plan for the troubled US economy, which will be the first priority of his administration.
US media reports say the bill to be presented to MPs could top $US850 billion ($1.2 trillion), while some say the eventual package could reach $1.42 trillion.
To revive the world's largest economy, the incoming White House economic team hopes to create 3 million jobs - 80 per cent in the private sector.
The stimulus plan will attempt to favour long-term infrastructure and job creation projects over tactics aimed at boosting consumer spending, says adviser Lawrence Summers, head of Mr Obama's White House National Economic Council. With the United States facing up to 10 per cent unemployment and a deepening recession this year, Mr Summers says creating new jobs was a "key pillar" of Mr Obama's plan.
"In this crisis, doing too little poses a greater threat than doing too much," Mr Summers wrote in an editorial in The Washington Post .
