U.S. President Barack Obama Monday stepped up his pressure on Congress to approve his massive stimulus package when addressing the nation at his first prime time news conference since taking office.

"We find ourselves in a rare moment where the citizens of our country and all countries are watching and waiting for us to lead," Obama spoke directly to the recession-weary American people.

CAMPAIGN TACTICS

Obama warned that the dire state of the American economy led him to believe "we need to put this recovery plan in motion as soon as possible."

"At this particular moment, with the private sector so weakened by this recession, the federal government is the only entity left with the resources to jolt our economy back to life," he said.

Obama said it is only government that can "break the vicious cycle," where lost jobs lead to people spending less money, which leads to even more layoffs.

The Labor Department reported last week that the unemployment rate rose to 7.6 percent in January, the highest level since 1992,as employers slashed 598,000 jobs.

January's drop, far worse than the 524,000 that economists expected, was followed revised declines of 577,000 in December.

The U.S. economy has lost a staggering 3.6 million jobs since December 2007, when the recession began. And about one-half of this decline occurred in the past 3 months.

"And breaking that cycle is exactly what the plan that's moving through Congress is designed to do," he said in the conference.

Before the press meeting, Obama delivered a speech and held a town hall-style question-and-answer meeting in Elkhart, Indiana, where unemployment rose from 4.7 percent one year ago to 15 percent.

"So we can't afford to wait. We can't wait and see and hope for the best. We can't posture and bicker and resort to the same failed ideas that got us into this mess in the first place." Obama told some 1,700 people at the gathering. "That was what this election was all about. The American people rejected those ideas because they hadn't worked."

Obama planned to deliver a similar speech on Tuesday in Fort Myers, Florida, another city suffering a lot from the economic crisis.

Many analysis believe that Obama returned to campaign tactics was aimed to rally more public support to push the stimulus package through the Congress.

Obama administration even postponed details of a 350 billion dollar bank bailout plan to forces lawmakers to focus first on passing the package.

HARDSHIP AHEAD

After more than a week of private negotiations and intense public debate, the U.S. Senate agreed via a key procedural vote earlier Monday to put the 827 billion dollar massive economic stimulus plan to the final vote scheduled for Tuesday.

Even after the package was approved by the Senate, lawmakers had to resolve differences between the Senate bill and an 819 billion version of the legislation approved last week by the House.

Once a final bill is crafted and passed by both chambers, the measure would be sent to Obama to sign into law. Obama has set a February 16 deadline for the package.

Obama hopes the expansive stimulus plan will create or save 3 million to 4 million jobs and help revive the economy, which has been in a recession since December 2007.

But lobbyists and lawmakers were gearing up for a fight this week over remaining differences. That could make it difficult for House and Senate negotiators to meet Obama's revised goal of having a measure in place for his signature.

Meanwhile, Republicans were still skeptical of the stimulus package, claiming it is not a stimulus one but a spending plan, which will waste a lot of taxpayer's money.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell complained the package was a "poorly crafted bill," noting "I think you could get the jobabout half of that, which would still be very robust stimulus package by historical standard."

Moments before the vote, Senate Majority Leader Harry Leid said: "This legislation is not a silver bullet...The recovery willtake time."

Obama also knew the challenges. He told reporters at Monday's press meeting that his administration, which he said inherited a deficit of over 1 trillion dollars and "the most profound economicemergency since the Great Depression," should pay much attention to greater deficits.

"Those are deficits that could turn a crisis into a catastrophe,and I refuse to let that happen," said Obama.

The president also admitted that he did not know whether the government might need more than the remaining 350 billion dollar of bailout funds to restore the ailing U.S. financial system.

"We don't know yet whether we're going to need additional money or how much additional money we'll need until we see how successful we are at restoring a level of confidence in the marketplace," Obama said.

But he said that the U.S. economy will recover next year if right steps were taken now, vowing his government will "do whatever" to revive the sagging economy.

"As long as I hold this office, I will do whatever it takes to put this economy back to work," he said.