Details of the proposal provided by the White House before its official release described a US$3.729 trillion budget in which the deficit rose to US$1.645 trillion in fiscal 2011, then fell sharply to US$1.101 trillion in 2012.

This trend would trim the deficit as a share of the US economy to 3.2 percent by 2015 from 10.9 percent this year, and meet a pledge Obama made to his Group of 20 partners to halve the deficit by 2013.

The budget shows the deficit steadying around 3 percent of gross domestic product from 2015 onward, slowing the rate at which the US adds to its debt, although it will still climb to 77 percent of GDP by 2021, up from 72 percent in 2011.

Obama's budget for fiscal 2012, to be formally released at 10:30 AM EST (15:30 GMT), is a proposal to Congress laying out the president's policy priorities. Months of wrangling with the Republican opposition in Congress will now follow.

"We're just at the beginning of a long process", White House budget director Jack Lew told ABC's 'Good Morning America'. "We look forward to engaging with the Congress and working in a bipartisan way to actually solve the problem."

The White House sees a December tax pact forged between Obama and Republicans as evidence they can work together, but the initial reaction from the other party was skeptical.