Sen. John McCain arrived in Pittsburgh tonight on the eve of what his advisers called a "big and ambitious" speech on the economy that he will deliver at Carnegie Mellon University tomorrow -- spanning taxes, the budget, health care, rising gas prices, prescription drugs and education.

While some of the proposals in his speech, such as a plan to help homeowners affected by the subprime mortgatge crisis aren't new, a few elements are, said Carly Fiorina, the former Hewlett-Packard CEO who is serving as an adviser to the Arizona senator.

In one of his first acts as president, Mr. McCain would call for a one-year pause in discretionary spending in order to conduct "a top to bottom review" of every federal program, with the exception of the military budget and veterans' benefits, she said.

Entitlement programs wouldn't be affected, she noted.

"He's simply sending a message [to government agencies] you do not get more money until you've gone through oversight and review " and have shown "you're serving the American taxpayer effectively," she said.

Mr. McCain's speech, which he will give at 10 a.m. on Carnegie Mellon's campus in Oakland, will also propose that affluent Americans pay higher premiums for prescription drug benefits.

"While he applauds help for people who are struggling to figure out whether to pay rent, buy food or buy prescriptions, there are a lot of people who can afford their own prescriptions, and that reform alone saves millions of dollars that can be put to better use," said Ms. Fiorina.

Mr. McCain's proposal would be based on current eligibliity requirements in Medicare Plan B, mainly affecting couples making more than $160,000 a year, added Doug Holtz-Eakin, a senior policy adviser to Mr. McCain.

Earlier, during an impromptu news conference en route to Pittsburgh, Mr. McCain repeated earlier criticisms of Sen. Barack Obama's comments at a private San Francisco fund-raiser last week, in which he characterized small-town Pennsylvanians as being "bitter" about the loss of their jobs and the ability of government to help them.

Mr. Obama's remarks show a "fundamental misunderstanding of the America of this region," Mr. McCain said. "The fact that he continues to say he does not apologize" for the remarks shows that he is "out of touch," he added.

Mr. Obama was quoted as saying, "You go into these small towns in Pennsylvania and, like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing's replaced them," according to a transcript published on the Huffington Post.

"And it's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."

Mr. McCain's speech also will address the rising cost of fuel, educational loans and a proposal to increase the tax exemption for dependents from $3,500 a year to $7,000 a year.

Mr. McCain will also tackle an issue that stymied the current president -- the "protection and reform" of Medicare and Social Security, including privatization.

"He's prepared to consider all options, to reach out in a bipartisan way and form a bipartisan commission to look at all options," Ms. Fiorina said. "He believes this problem must be tackled and solved."

Mr. McCain's philosophy, she stressed, is "focused on wage earners and people who pay payroll taxes, on those who work for living and those who provide jobs," she added. While the senator believes there is "a distinct role" for government, "the truest measure of prosperity in America is the success and financial security of those who are wage earners and meet payrolls."

Mr. McCain's first stop this evening was at the Omni William Penn Downtown, where he greeted well-heeled supporters at a private, $1,000-a-ticket fund-raiser.