LOS ANGELES -- President Barack Obama headed west to sell his big picture deficit-reduction plan. But many people are waiting for a quick fix to their own economic problems caused chiefly by persistent unemployment and the crippled housing market.

Audiences in California and Nevada understood why it's important to get a handle on the deficit over the long term. Yet they made clear that the economic recovery hasn't fully taken hold in ways that are meaningful to them.

As Obama shifts into re-election mode, he will need to show that he hasn't lost his focus on jobs even as the conversation in Washington swings to paying down what the nation owes...