The White House plans to deliver to Congress on Thursday a guide for saving about $17 billion in federal spending next year as part of the $3.55 trillion budget for 2010 that President Barack Obama already has proposed.

Acknowledging that the proposed savings are a fraction of what the president is asking Congress to spend next year, the White House calls them a worthy start.

"Seventeen billion, to anyone's accounting, is a significant amount of money -- that's in one year alone," a senior administration official said Wednesday, speaking on condition of anonymity because the plan had not been made public. "This is an important first step," the official said, "but it is not the end of the process."

About half of the proposed savings come from the Defense Department, largely in cuts Defense Secretary Robert Gates already has publicly recommended.

Overall, the White House is proposing cuts in 121 areas, including about 80 that the administration had not publicly discussed. Among them:

A Long Range Radio Navigation System, rendered obsolete by satellite-based GPS systems, that still costs $35 million a year.

Payments to states for mine cleanups after they are finished, at $142 million a year.

Even Start, an early-childhood education program that costs $66 million a year. While supporting Head Start and other early-childhood programs, the White House calls this one inefficient.

An attache for the Department of Education in Paris at $632,000 a year.

Meanwhile, Obama is proposing to spend $1.25 billion to settle discrimination claims by black farmers against the Agriculture Department. The White House said the money would be included in the budget request.

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