U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner has a plan to save America from financial catastrophe.

It's one the Virginia Democratic senator has been working on for months, under the radar, and with an unlikely ally — Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss of Georgia.

Nothing's off the table in the effort to confront the nation's ballooning $14 trillion debt and $1.5 trillion deficit.

Spending would be slashed across the board, tax breaks eliminated and the defense budget cut, all while reducing tax rates to expand the economy. Popular entitlement programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security would not be held sacred. Gradually, the retirement age also could be raised.

"If we put this off, we are approaching financial Armageddon," Warner told hundreds of businesspeople Monday morning at a Virginia Chamber of Commerce event at the SunTrust Banks regional headquarters in downtown Richmond. "We don't need another study, we need to start."

Later Monday, the pair discussed their plan with members of the Richmond Times-Dispatch's news and editorial staffs.

The broad plan, still being fine-tuned, is based on the work of the presidential debt commission, which in December proposed sweeping changes that would achieve $4 trillion in deficit reduction over 10 years.

The panel warned that if action was not taken soon, federal revenue would be consumed entirely by debt payments and entitlement programs.

Nevertheless, the commission's recommendations stalled, falling three votes short of the supermajority needed. Warner and Chambliss, who already had begun working on the issues in private, decided to try salvaging the commission's work and adding to it.

With the help of four of the commission's members — two Republicans and two Democrats — the "Gang of Six" is now working to translate the complex recommendations into a legislative package to be introduced this year. The other members are Sens. Richard J. Durbin, D-Ill.; Kent Conrad, D-N.D.; Tom Coburn, R-Okla.; and Mike Crapo, R-Idaho.

The broad-reaching reforms will be a tough pill to swallow for many, with the pain being spread across the population.

"It's going to take every single American to sacrifice some," Chambliss said, acknowledging that many in the room would never see the U.S. debt repaid but stressing the need for immediate steps to help future generations.

"By golly, if we don't do it now in this window that we've got … then those people that buy our bonds, i.e. the Chinese, are going to dictate to us exactly how we do it."

Warner said the U.S. debt burden as a percentage of gross domestic product is projected to reach 90 percent in the next decade based on current policies, which would place the U.S. in line with financially struggling countries such as Greece, Portugal and Ireland.

"Every dollar we spend right now, we have to go into the international markets and borrow 40 cents on that dollar," he said.

Politically, the change in direction may prove equally challenging, requiring members of Congress from both sides of the aisle, and the president, to compromise on tough issues.

Warner has had some success in overcoming partisanship. As governor, perhaps his chief accomplishment was persuading 17 Republicans in the House of Delegates to support a tax-reform plan that raised $1.2 billion for the state's coffers.

Chambliss noted that political support for populist reforms such as cutting earmarks and spending was not nearly enough, and that true progress would require tackling unpopular issues such as entitlement reform.

But he remains optimistic and hopes that the lack of elections this year will help the plan gain traction.

"I think the American public gets it more than the politicians in Washington get it. This is going to require some tough votes on both sides of the aisle," Chambliss said. "I'm not sure people are betting on us yet, but they're not ignoring it."

"This is the issue of our time," Warner agreed. "I can't think of anything more un-American than to not get it right."