President Barack Obama will speak to the nation today at 9 p.m.

WASHINGTON — Barreling ahead on a mammoth agenda, Barack Obama is ready to offer a detailed sketch of the first year of his presidency, casting the nation's bleeding economy as a tangle of tough, neglected problems.

In a prime-time speech from the House of Representatives, Obama will make his case tonight that much more has to be done to turn around the economy — a message he knows he must explain.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said today that Obama will provide more details about his financial stability plan and measures to help the economy while delivering "a sober assessment about where we are and the challenges we face."

"He'll say we're on the right path to meeting these challenges, and there are better days ahead," Gibbs said.

Already, the nation is nearly dizzy keeping up with what's emerged from Washington during Obama's first weeks as president, from a staggering $787 billion stimulus plan to a revamped bailout for the financial sector to a rescue plan for struggling homeowners.

The president has also said reforming health care, including burgeoning entitlement programs, is a huge priority.

Obama's speech will have all the trappings of a State of the Union address. It comes two days before he delivers a budget blueprint to Congress. Unlike that detail-driven document, his address will be broad, spelling out what he wants and how he will do it.

The economy will dominate. Obama will touch on foreign policy, but that will largely be left for other speeches. This will not be a rollout of one policy initiative after another.