President Barack Obama proposed a budget today that would cut the U.S. deficit by $1.1 trillion over 10 years, setting the stage for a bitter fight with Republicans who vow even tougher spending controls, Reuters reported.

Details of the budget proposal provided by the White House before its official release showed the deficit rising to $1.645 trillion in fiscal 2011, then falling sharply to $1.101 trillion in 2012.

This trend would trim the deficit as a share of the U.S. economy to 3.2 percent in 2015 from 10.9 percent this year.

“It’s a start; it’s a move in the right direction,” said Philip Poole, global head of macro investment strategy at HSBC Global Asset Management in London. “It’s a lot less than the Republicans wanted to see. It’s not clear that this can actually be enacted.”

Two-thirds of Obama’s deficit savings come from spending cuts and expected reductions in interest payments as the deficit declines. The rest comes from higher revenue, in part as provisions in a December pact on payroll taxes and jobless aid expire, and also as stronger growth lifts tax receipts.

Obama plans to freeze non-security discretionary spending for five years, which would lower the deficit by $400 billion over 10 years.

Defense spending in the budget will be cut by $78 billion over five years, as previously announced by Obama, and will be 5 percent lower in 2012 compared with the level sought in 2011, thanks in part to the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.

The budget also proposes funding an annual “fix” for the alternative minimum tax for the next three years by lowering the rate at which high-income Americans can itemize tax deductions.