Feb. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Democratic presidential front-runner Barack Obama and his challenger, Hillary Clinton, are both zeroing in on the economy as the campaign moves to big industrial states ravaged by job losses and foreclosures.

A day after winning three more state contests, Obama, 46, delivered a major economic-policy speech at a General Motors Corp. assembly plant in Janesville, Wisconsin. The Illinois senator detailed a $60 billion infrastructure bank to invest in projects such as roads, bridges and airports. In addition, he proposed a $150 billion plan to create green-energy jobs.

``The economy's going to be the major focus going forward,'' said Austan Goolsbee, Obama's top economic adviser. ``You'll see a lot of discussion coming from him about the squeeze on the middle class, how that relates to the slowdown of the economy in the short run, and what investments in terms of jobs, technology and workforce skills are needed for the future.''

With Obama ahead by 1,029 delegates to Clinton's 952 in the race to secure the 2,025 needed to win, primaries in industrial states Ohio and Pennsylvania are critical to both campaigns. Clinton, 60, stepped up her attacks on Obama's proposals, suggesting they were either rhetoric or imitations of her ideas.

Obama, she said yesterday in McAllen, Texas, is in the ``promises business,'' while she is in the ``solutions business.''

`Economic Vision'

``We're going to strongly emphasize her economic vision,'' said Mark Penn, Clinton's chief strategist. ``We look forward to a debate on who is best able to manage the economy.''

Clinton has held an advantage on the economy. She has done especially well with lower and working-class voters and the elderly. In a Bloomberg/Los Angeles Times poll published Jan. 25, Democrats named the economy -- along with the Iraq war -- as their top concern; Clinton was favored by those voters by a 2-to- 1 margin over Obama.

That may be changing, however, as Obama improved his standing with lower-income voters in the Feb. 12 primaries in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia and also gained credibility on the economy, according to the exit polls.

Virginia

In Virginia, which Obama won by a margin of 64 percent to 35 percent, almost half of voters said the economy was the most important issue and Obama got 62 percent of that group's vote, compared with 37 percent for Clinton. In neighboring Maryland, which Obama took with 60 percent of the vote, 47 percent of voters said the economy was the top issue. Obama got 59 percent of that group.

``We've been starting to win some pretty large margins that you couldn't if he wasn't doing well up and down the economic scale,'' Obama's chief strategist, David Axelrod, said yesterday.

Obama took the lead in delegates for the first time this week with his Feb. 12 wins.

There are more similarities than differences between the two Democrats on major economic issues. Both want to repeal President George W. Bush's tax cuts, provide economic relief to the middle class and increase government spending on health care and education. Both embrace free trade to a limited extent, and talk about helping those who lose out because of globalization.

Health Care

As for differences, Clinton is offering targeted tax cuts while Obama proposes broader middle-class tax relief. Clinton mandates health-care coverage while Obama's plan doesn't have a mandate.

Until recently, Clinton has generally been quicker on the draw on the economy. She was first to release a stimulus plan and has rolled out new proposals more rapidly.

The differences are being stressed by both campaigns. Clinton will be talking extensively about programs to help middle-class Americans on health care, housing and credit problems, Penn said.

In a memo, Neera Tanden, Clinton's policy director, said the proposals Obama outlined yesterday had been offered by the New York senator ``months ago.''

``Voters may ask themselves that if Senator Obama cannot produce his own ideas on the campaign trail, how will he solve new problems as president?'' Tanden wrote.

Jen Psaki, a spokeswoman for the Obama campaign, said the Illinois senator's energy plan ``was introduced a month before'' Clinton's and his infrastructure-spending proposal ``invests billions more than hers.''

Another Clinton campaign memo released yesterday cited polls that have her ahead in the March 4 contests in Ohio and Texas, as well as in Pennsylvania, which votes in April.

`Real Plan'

Clinton is ``the only candidate with a real plan and a record of fighting for health care, housing, job creation and protecting Social Security,'' said the memo, written by Penn.

``Obama's program is more comprehensive,'' responded Goolsbee. ``Voters and the experts'' agree.

Economic issues are a factor in Texas, Ohio and Pennsylvania, which have a combined 577 delegates. All three states showed increases in joblessness in December.

The economic situation is especially acute in Ohio, where both the Obama and Clinton campaigns have said a win is crucial to capturing the nomination. The state's unemployment rate rose 0.4 percentage point in a month, to 6 percent.

Ohio is second only to Michigan in auto-sector jobs and has felt the full effects of auto manufacturers' restructurings, with plant closings across the state. Ohio has lost 28 percent of its car-manufacturing jobs since 2000.

The state has also had four cities in the top 20 for foreclosures last year, according to RealtyTrac Inc.

To contact the reporter on this story: Matthew Benjamin in Washington at mbenjamin2@bloomberg.net; Indira Lakshmanan in Janesville, Wisconsin at ilakshmanan@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: February 14, 2008 10:16 EST