Key Budget Points

Following are some of President Obama's spending and tax proposals

in his fiscal 2015 budget request to Congress:

Defense: Shrink the Army to its lowest level since before World War II. The Pentagon budget for the year starting in October is an estimated $496 billion, about the same as this fiscal year.

Transportation: Obama wants a four-year, $302 billion plan to repair roads and bridges and fund transit projects.

Education: The president renewed

his call for universal pre-kindergarten and expanding the Head Start program. The new budget seeks a total of

$68.6 billion through a raise in federal tobacco taxes to vastly expand access to preschool and to connect nearly all students to broadband and high-speed wireless Internet.

Health: The budget is projecting savings of $402 billion in the Medicare and Medicaid programs over the next 10 years, primarily due to reduced reimbursement to health-care providers and drugmakers.

Gun control: Obama proposed spending $182 million to address mass shootings. That includes school safety research, a $22 million boost for the agency that inspects gun shops, and funds for technology to prevent unauthorized users from firing a gun.

Earned income tax credit: Obama called for doubling the earned income tax credit for childless workers. The program has bipartisan support because it rewards low-income people who work.                                                  - ReutersEndText