SOUTH BEND — It's the most sweeping economic package in decades, and the largest single spending bill in American history. So, how will it help create jobs? And how many of them will land in Michiana?

President Barack Obama signed the economic stimulus rescue plan into law in Denver Tuesday afternoon. The bill is designed to create or save at least 3.5 million jobs and boost consumer spending.

The President says the $787 billion plan will begin to reverse the nation's economic free-fall by providing a $400 tax break for most individual workers and $800 for couples. The bill also includes extended unemployment benefits for workers out of a job, and pumps millions of dollars into health care, renewable energy development and infrastructure projects.

The White House estimates at least 24,000 of those jobs will be saved or created here in Northern Indiana and Southwest Michigan.

But, who will they be?

Who can get them?

Will they really help put enough people back to work to help turn the local economy around?

They are questions Jeffery Pabon has been asking for months now-- along with some others that are even tougher.

"Every single day, it's just-- what am I going to do? How am I going to live?" he said with an exhausted sigh.

The answers grew increasingly unclear during Pabon's weekly trip to the St. Joseph County Library. It's a trip he dreads making, because each one means one less week left to search for solutions.

"It was two days before Thanksgiving, and I walked into work, and my boss let me go. He said, I'm sorry, I can't keep you. You make too much money," Pabon said, trailing off in thought.

"You wouldn't believe how quickly things went south," he continued. "I was living in Elkhart, work was great. I just bought a brand new vehicle. Then, I lost my job, lost my brand new vehicle, lost my trailer. Now, I live at the Hope Rescue Mission. 4 months is all it took."

Since then, Pabon says he's been walking down a troubled and unfamiliar road.

"I got $122 today [in unemployment benefits.] That's what I have to live on for the week. You can't live on $122 a week. It's impossible. But, I only have 6 more weeks of that. I don't know if I'll get a second extension or not. What am I going to do if that runs out? I can't even think about it," he said.

It's left Pabon feeling almost helpless.

"I feel like I've lost everything. And, there was nobody to help me out," he said. "I've looked for work everyday since then. There's nothing out there."

Can the federal government help him out?

The short answer is, well, maybe.

According to White House estimates released late Tuesday, the economic stimulus plan will create or save between 7,000 and 9,000 jobs in each of Michiana's Congressional districts, as outlined below:

-Indiana Congressional District 2 (Rep. Joe Donnelly-D): 7,900 jobs
-Indiana Congressional District 3 (Rep. Mark Souder-R): 8,900 jobs
-Michigan Congressional District 6: (Rep. Fred Upton-R): 7,200 jobs

It's music to Pabon's ears, but it's only left him with even more questions.

"How do you get involved with that, especially the people that are unemployed?" he wondered.

"The first step is to contact Work One, right here in the area," said Rep. Donnelly. "In addition, there's also an extension of unemployment benefits and assistance with COBRA--which is the health plan payments--as well. Work One can provide assistance with all of that."

WSBT's calls to Rep. Souder and Rep. Upton for comment on the stimulus bill were not returned Tuesday.

But, Donnelly cautions help won't come overnight.

South Bend--like many cities across the nation--has submitted a list of "shovel ready" projects, from an expansion of the South Shore Rail Line around the South Bend Regional Airport to road, sewer and water main expansions and even a $10 million hydroelectric dam on the St. Joseph River.

The projects total $187 million in all, and city leaders estimate they could put up to 3,000 people in the region back to work.

But, there's a catch.

Many are jobs only trained "skilled" workers can do.

Even so, Donnelly says they will make an impact.

"The skills that are part of those jobs are skills that can be obtained and developed very quickly. But, at the same time, there will be additional businesses that will be supplying products to these construction jobs, and that will spur other jobs to come into the area," he said.

Still, South Bend Mayor Steve Luecke (D) says the list of projects is only a "hopeful" one.

"We submitted everything we could to try and get our slice of the pie, but I think it's more likely that we're in the $20 million dollar range [in getting federal stimulus money for projects], and that's just a wild guess," he said.

It's also "wishful thinking" that the projects will get off the ground anytime soon.

"Some Community Block Development Grant funding and some Neighborhood Revitalization funding for the demolition of vacant housing and new infill housing could come sooner, but I expect the earliest we'll see some of the dollars released is probably about 3 months," Luecke said.

Some of the road funding could take even longer, as much of it will be funneled through the State of Indiana first.

Still, Congressman Donnelly is confident additional jobs will come down the road. The stimulus plan also includes billions of dollars in tax credits, including breaks for everyone from first time home buyers to social security recipients, along with money aimed at cracking the nation's credit crunch.

That includes $1 trillion of funding that will made available for lending.

Some of that money is intended to allow investors to purchase floor plan financing or secure loans, and Donnelly says the local recreational vehicle industry will reap the benefits.

"As the credit markets loosen up, more of these products will be built. As more of them are built, more people will be coming back to work," Donnelly said.

It all sounds good to Pabon, but he's not celebrating quite yet.

"It does give me a little hope in 3-6 months, maybe a year. But, I don't see this making a difference right off the bat," he said.

After all, he's been down this road before, and he knows even more tough questions likely lie ahead.

"We do have a lot of work ahead, there's no doubt. But, this is about getting the economy back to normal, and this is the first step. I'm not going to tell anybody that 3 months from now, everything will be cured, but we want to get on the road back," said Donnelly.