Factbox: Obama pitches $3 trillion in deficit cuts

(Reuters) - President Barack Obama called for more than $3 trillion in deficit cuts over 10 years on Monday, with half of the savings coming from higher taxes on the wealthy and big corporations.

Obama is trying to energize his Democratic supporters with a vow to shield middle-class social spending programs from large-scale cuts, while calling for a return to the higher rates paid by wealthier Americans during the 1990s.

The ideas are part of a blueprint Obama is sending for consideration by a congressional "super committee" tasked with finding at least $1.2 trillion in savings over a decade.

Following are the highlights of Obama's plan:

TAX INCREASES

The plan would raise $1.5 trillion from changes to the U.S. tax code. Of that, $800 billion in savings would come from allowing President George W. Bush's tax cuts for individuals making more than $200,000 to expire.

Another $700 billion would come from ridding the tax code of special breaks. Obama has proposed limiting deductions for higher-income households and eliminating breaks for oil and gas companies and firms that purchase corporate jets.

The plan would also boost taxes on certain income earned by fund managers often called "carried interest." Hedge fund managers and some others pay a lower capital gains tax rate for managing clients' investments.

In a populist step designed to appeal to voters, Obama would require millionaires to pay higher taxes. He has called that idea the "Buffett Rule" because it is based on a suggestion put forth by billionaire Warren Buffett, an ally of the president. Buffett has written that rich people like himself often pay less in tax than those who work for them because of tax-code loopholes and the low rates he pays on his investment income.

DOMESTIC SPENDING PROGRAMS

Obama's plan would avoid large-scale cuts in big middle-class entitlement programs such as the Social Security retirement program and the Medicare health plan for older Americans.

His plan includes $580 billion in cuts to domestic spending programs. Of that, $248 billion will come from savings in the Medicare health program with most of the cuts targeting payments to health providers, likely insurance companies and hospitals.

Obama would seek savings of $72 billion in the Medicaid health program for the poor.

Administration officials said Obama will pledge to veto any plan to cut benefits for Medicare recipients unless the wealthy and big corporations are required to pay their "fair share" of taxes.

In a decision that is likely to please many Democrats, Obama is not proposing raising the age at which Americans become eligible for Medicare benefits, currently set at 65.

He also is not proposing any changes to Social Security.

The plan includes $250 billion in savings from other mandatory programs, including $33 billion in savings from agriculture subsidies, payments, and programs.

WINDING DOWN WARS

The plan assumes $1.1 trillion in savings from winding down the war in Iraq and moving ahead with planned troop reductions from Afghanistan. Critics are likely to label this element of the plan a "gimmick" because it does not represent new policy but instead reflects drawdowns of U.S. forces that have already been announced.

SAVINGS ON INTEREST PAYMENTS

The plan assumes $430 billion in savings on interest payments because of the cuts elsewhere in the budget.

(Reporting by Caren Bohan, Alister Bull and Kim Dixon; Editing by Doina Chiacu)