A trillion-dollar deficit is scary. So is a possible second Great Depression. But scarier still would be trying to solve these problems without real input from the public.

Today's new federal budget numbers from the Congressional Budget Office project an almost unimaginable $1.2 trillion deficit this year – and that's without counting any stimulus package offered by the Obama administration. President-elect Barack Obama has already said we might see trillion-dollar deficits for several years. And he also said the country can't get its fiscal house in order without tackling Medicare and Social Security.

In the end, this isn't just a matter of numbers. It's a matter of being honest with the public about the fiscal problems we have, both in the short term and the long term. The public frequently doesn't understand what's going on with the budget. Let's face it, it's incredibly arcane. But they do understand priorities.

There's no need to once again run through the Obama administration's daunting to-do list. But the nation's fiscal problems present one of the most difficult political maneuvers imaginable. The administration has to:

• Spend enough to avert or at least minimize a potential depression, and persuade the public that huge deficits to do that are okay, and
  
  
• Make significant, probably painful changes to deal with the nation's long-term problems, like the budget-busting costs ahead for Medicare and Social Security – and persuade the public to go along with those changes.

In other words, the government has to buy round after round of drinks and then, eventually, cut people off. Go into a bar and try that sometime. It takes some explaining.

This strategy makes perfect sense to economists and budget experts. But they're not the ones who need to be persuaded. For the public, the idea of "huge spending now, fiscal restraint later" may be harder to swallow. They need a chance to work through the options, think through the priorities. In other words, they need to be engaged.

Candor is a start, and it's been notably absent on this issue for a long time. President-elect Obama's blunt warnings this week have been much more frank than he was on the campaign trail. So is the fact that the administration says it wants to use the grassroots network from the campaign to tackle health care (rising health costs are a critical part of the problem here). It's at least a beginning in terms of laying the groundwork needed to bring the public along. But it will take more than that. Because one thing is certain: the public isn't going to let the government do what's necessary to solve these problems without their consent.