In his first press conference since Tuesday's historic election, President-elect Barack Obama promised swift action to address the economic crisis and to ameliorate the growing anxiety within the middle class but offered few specifics of what he would do.

Flanked by his team of economic advisers, Obama pledged to take "all necessary steps to ease the credit crisis," as well as to extend jobless benefits for unemployed Americans and to press for a fiscal stimulus package to rekindle economic growth.

He said he hoped that Congress would pass some stimulus plan before President Bush leaves office on January 20, but added that he would make it his top priority as president if that didn't happen. His stimulus plan would include tax cuts, infrastructure spending, and help for state and local governments in balancing their budgets and avoiding layoffs.

In any case, he cautioned patience. "It's not going to be quick and it's not going to be easy to dig ourselves out of the hole we are in," he said, calling the current situation the "greatest economic challenge of a lifetime." He also took pains to note on several occasions that he is not yet president and will defer to Bush until his term expires.

He sidestepped a question about whether he plans to follow through on his oft-repeated campaign pledge to raise taxes on people making more than $250,000 a year. Instead, he again spoke of a "net tax cut" designed primarily to benefit the middle class.

"My priority is: How do we grow the economy and how do we create more jobs?" he said.