WASHINGTON — President Obama said in his first prime-time news conference yesterday that the task of saving and creating jobs is more important than cultivating the bipartisan cooperation he promised to bring to Washington and pressed his case for the massive economic stimulus plan working its way through Congress.

Warning that inaction could "turn a crisis into a catastrophe," Obama rejected criticism from Republicans about the legislation's effect on the federal deficit, noting that government spending and debt had ballooned on his predecessor's watch. He called for lawmakers to break out of their "ideological rigidity," and was unapologetic as he pushed a package with a cost of more than $800 billion that has so far drawn nominal Republican support.

"I can't afford to see Congress play the usual political games. What we have to do right now is deliver for the American people," Obama said just hours after the legislation narrowly cleared a key procedural hurdle in the Senate, where it is likely to gain final passage today.

After that, the bill will be the subject of negotiations between House and Senate leaders that are expected to be contentious.

Obama repeatedly stressed the need for swift and aggressive government action — pitting his approach against those who would "do nothing" to assist a desperate public.

"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.

The president fielded 13 questions from reporters in his first wide-ranging session since taking office, touching briefly on foreign policy, his long-range agenda and sports. But the economy dominated the event. Obama, asked about the next allotment of money to aid the nation's banks, said he was dissatisfied with the way the first $350 billion was spent.

"We didn't get as big a bang for the buck as we should have," with the Troubled Assets Relief Program, he said. "My immediate task is making sure that the second half of that money — $350 billion — is spent properly."

That allocation process will begin today, when Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is slated to detail the administration's strategy for releasing the remaining bailout money.

2009 A 'DIFFICULT YEAR'

Obama stepped to the podium in the East Room of the White House and opened with prepared remarks on the economy. Somber and focused, he alternated between the details of the legislation and discussing its broad framework, repeatedly arguing that the public would prefer even a flawed government response to the crisis over inaction. He said he thought an economic recovery could begin to set in by 2010, but warned that 2009 will continue to be a "difficult year."

Asked whether he risked appearing to be too much of an alarmist about the economic peril facing the United States, possibly undermining public confidence in the economy, Obama rejected the question's premise.

"No, no, no, no," he said. "I think that what I've said is what other economists have said across the political spectrum, which is that if you delay acting on an economy of this severity, then you potentially create a negative spiral that becomes much more difficult for us to get out of."

He compared the situation with that of Japan in the 1990s, saying the Japanese, failing to act quickly enough, suffered a "lost decade."

"This is not your ordinary run-of-the-mill recession," Obama said.

"After many weeks of debate and discussion, the plan that ultimately emerges from Congress must be big enough and bold enough to face the size of the challenges we face right now," he said. "We find ourselves in a rare moment where the citizens of our country and all countries are watching and waiting for us to lead. It is a responsibility that this generation did not ask for, but one that we must accept for the sake of our children and our grandchildren."

In a brief foray into foreign policy, the president said with regard to Iran that the administration "will be looking for openings that can be created where we can start sitting across the table, face-to-face diplomatic overtures" with the Islamic republic. He said that "there's been a lot of mistrust built up over the years, so it's not going to happen overnight" and that "even as we engage in this direct diplomacy, we are very clear about certain deep concerns" about Iranian links to militant groups and possible pursuit of a nuclear weapon.

In stark contrast to former President George W. Bush, Obama did not say that the United States would not tolerate a nuclear-armed Iran. Instead, he all but invited Iran to signal that it, too, is interested in talks.

"Now it's time for Iran to send some signals that it wants to act differently, as well, and recognize that, even as it has some rights as a member of the international community, with those rights come responsibilities," he said.

SENATE VOTE TODAY

The news conference ended a day when the stimulus package, on a 61-36 vote, cleared a key procedural hurdle in the Senate and was set to move to a final vote today.

Only three Republicans — moderate Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania — supported the legislation. No Republicans voted for the $819 billion version of the stimulus legislation that passed the House on Jan. 28.

Obama has consistently cast himself as the leading champion of the package, traveling to Indiana yesterday to campaign for the bill before last night's news conference.

After its expected Senate passage today, the stimulus package will become the focus of negotiations between the Senate and the House. Obama's public relations blitz this week is designed to hasten that process, and to encourage negotiators to restore some education provisions that were stripped from the Senate version, even as they try not to escalate the cost. The Senate compromise, according to the Congressional Budget Office, would cost $838 billion.

Obama reverted to campaign mode yesterday as part of a weeklong effort to advance a stimulus bill that has tested his powers of persuasion. During a trip to Elkhart, Ind., he sought to reclaim the bully pulpit — and to put the economic package into a human context, as he took questions from citizens and described the specific real-world effects of spending nearly $1 trillion in taxpayer money.

Above all, Obama pitted himself against a hardened political establishment.

"Now it's time to act," he told about 1,700 people gathered for the town hall meeting in Elkhart, a town with soaring unemployment. "That's why I'm calling on Congress to pass this bill immediately. Folks here in Elkhart and all across America need help right now. They can't afford to keep waiting for folks in Washington to get this done."

Obama will add a new twist when he travels today to Fort Myers, Fla.: He will be introduced at his town hall meeting by Gov. Charlie Crist, one of the few Republicans who are backing the plan in the face of conservative complaints about its size and scope and that it does not rely more heavily on tax cuts.

Crist issued a joint statement with Obama yesterday praising the president for continuing to "work hard to reignite the U.S. economy."

67% APPROVAL IN POLLS

Obama advisers have also added another job-related stop for him this week, on Thursday in Peoria, Ill., where he will visit a Caterpillar plant. The heavy-equipment company recently shed 20,000 jobs.

And Cabinet officials are being dispatched to spread the message. This morning, Education Secretary Arne Duncan is scheduled to visit Wakefield High School in Arlington, Va., to discuss the effect of the stimulus package on education, his office said.

After a difficult few days in which Republicans seized on evidence of public resistance to the stimulus package, top Obama aides pushed back yesterday, distributing survey data from a new Gallup Poll showing that a strong majority of Americans support the president and that just more than half, 51 percent, believe that passing a stimulus plan is "critically important."

The poll showed that 67 percent of Americans said they approve of the way the president has handled efforts to pass an economic recovery package, while far fewer gave good marks to congressional Democrats and Republicans.

"There is strong support for this," adviser David Axelrod told reporters on Air Force One during the flight to Indiana. "One thing that we learned over two years is that there's a whole different conversation in Washington than there is out here."