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Enlarge By Pablo Martinez Monsivais, AP President-elect Barack Obama leaves a meeting with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., left, on Wednesday at the Capitol. Obama had meetings with Congressional leaders scheduled to discuss economic recovery plans.

"The economy is very sick," Obama said before meeting with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. "The situation is getting worse. … We have to act and act now to break the momentum of this recession."

In a whirlwind series of meetings on Capitol Hill, Obama also met with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and scheduled a bipartisan session later Monday with key lawmakers. In between, he met with his economic team.

Obama, who will take office Jan. 20, said he hoped to sign a stimulus package no later than the first week in February.

"This is not a Republican problem or a Democratic problem at this stage," he said. "It is an American problem, and we're going to all have to chip in and do what the American people expect."

At issue is a $775 billion economic recovery plan he said was needed to meet an "extraordinary economic challenge."

He said the package would include massive tax cuts for middle-class workers and "job-creating" businesses.

In brief remarks upon arriving at Pelosi's office, Obama said that he expected a "sobering job report" this week and that it was necessary to move quickly to address the economic problems.

"The reason we are here today is because the people's business cannot wait," he said.

Pelosi said she planned to "hit the ground running" to address the economic crisis.

"We pledge to work together in a bipartisan way," Pelosi said. "Great civility, great fiscal discipline.

Obama adviser David Axelrod said the plan's $775 billion would be spent on infrastructure, energy projects and tax cuts. Obama hopes to create or save 3 million jobs over two years.

Stressing an urgent need to revive the national economy, congressional Democrats originally said the massive spending plan would be ready to sign when Obama takes office Jan. 20, but that deadline could slip.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said it will be difficult to get the stimulus package together in time for the inauguration. He said on Fox News Sunday that early February may be a more realistic goal.

"It's probably going to slip because this has been a complicated effort and a cooperative effort between the Congress and the incoming administration," Hoyer said. "We're going to move as quickly as possible, given our responsibilities to make sure that we're passing a package that will work."

Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs said Sunday that he agreed it is "very, very unlikely" that the stimulus package will be ready by Inauguration Day, but he implored Congress to act with urgency.

"We've seen Christmas sales, consumer confidence and obviously upcoming job numbers which underscore that a very serious situation has only gotten worse and isn't likely to get better any time soon," he said.

Reid said Sunday on NBC's Meet the Press that both Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, should be involved in the process.

"I'm not going to have some false deadline," he said. "We will work this just as quickly as we can. It'll take as much time as it needs to get done."

McConnell has called for public hearings on the bill.

"What I worry about … is the haste with which this may be done," McConnell said on ABC's This Week. "This is an enormous bill. Do we want to do it with essentially no hearings, no input … from Republican senators. I don't think that's a good idea."

After a two-week vacation in Hawaii, Obama briefly went home to Chicago and flew to Washington on Sunday. The new Congress, which will include larger Democratic majorities, will be sworn in Tuesday and then begin debate on the stimulus package.

The Obamas will live in the Hay-Adams Hotel until the Blair House, the White House guest quarters, is available Jan. 15.

Contributing: The Associated Press