WASHINGTON - TOP Democrats Thursday unveiled a US$56.2 billion (S$79.9 billion) stimulus package aimed at helping struggling families at a time when authorities are mulling a far bigger rescue package for teetering financial giants.

'We must not forget Main Street as we work to address the crisis on Wall Street,' said Senate Majority leader Harry Reid in a statement.

'Democrats believe that we must urgently pass another economic recovery package that will create hundreds of thousands of good-paying American jobs and prevent cuts in critical services for millions of Americans.'

His joint statement with the head of the Senate appropriations committee, Robert Byrd, came just after US lawmakers said they had agreed the outlines of a huge Wall Street bailout, priced at US$700 billion by the government.

Top Republican and Democratic lawmakers along with the party's presidential hopefuls met later in the day with President George W. Bush at the White House in a bid to hammer out an agreement on the rescue plan.

Americans have been hit hard by falling home prices, rising mortgage payments, a spike in oil and food costs and unemployment which jumped to a five-year high of 6.1 per cent in August.

'There are consequences for failing to invest in America and the Bush administration has fiddled while Rome has burned,' Mr Byrd said.

'The package we are outlining today addresses the rise in unemployment and high food and energy costs, and funds infrastructure repairs that will create jobs, while also aiding small businesses and rural communities to ensure that Main Street USA is here to stay.'

Measures being proposed by the Democrats in the legislation include extending unemployment insurance benefits for seven weeks, seeking to tackle rising food and energy costs and promoting job training.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said earlier on Thursday that she was hoping to discuss the stimulus package with Mr Bush at Thursday?s meeting.

'I have made an overture to the White House that we would like to have discussions with them about a stimulus package,' she said.

'We intend to proceed with a very lean but important stimulus package,' she said, adding it would be difficult to explain agreeing a massive bailout for Wall Street companies without addressing the situation for average Americans. -- AFP