President Obama’s prime-time press conference and his campaign-style events this week have boosted support for the economic recovery plan working its way through Congress.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 44% of U.S. voters now support the plan while 40% are opposed. A week ago, just 37% favored the legislation, and 43% were opposed.

House and Senate negotiators are putting the final touches on a plan now expected to cost $789 billion and hope to have the president sign it into law on Monday.

The latest data shows that support for the president is closely linked to support for the stimulus plan. Among those who Strongly Approve of Obama’s job performance, 84% favor the stimulus plan, and four percent (4%) are opposed. Among those who Somewhat Approve of the president’s performance, 39% favor the stimulus plan, while 30% are opposed.

However, among those who disapprove of the president’s performance, the results are starkly different. Just one percent (1%) approve of the plan, and 91% disapprove.

The link between the president and support for the stimulus plan is confirmed by other data as well. A review of polling data from other firms suggests that when the plan is described as Obama’s plan, it enjoys more support. Since the plan has been developed jointly by the president and congressional Democrats, that is the way it is described in Rasmussen Reports polling (see question wording).

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Obama continues to enjoy a solid job approval rating, and the number who Strongly Approve of his performance has bounced five points higher since Monday’s televised conference.

A recent analysis by Scott Rasmussen noted that the politics of the stimulus debate reflected a tug-of-war between the president’s popularity and the public’s instinctive resistance to more government spending. That remains the case as the spending portion of the bill continues to have less support than the tax-cutting portion. Only 14% would now support a stimulus plan with no tax cuts while the public is evenly divided on a plan with tax cuts only and no new government spending.

It should also be noted that those who are undecided about the stimulus plan give the president very high ratings. As a result, they are likely to give him the benefit of the doubt.

The final version of the stimulus plan now includes $507 billion in government spending and $282 billion in tax cuts. At the insistence of congressional Democrats to allow for more spending, it scales back the middle-class tax cut proposal Obama campaigned on and included in his initial stimulus proposal.

Forty-three percent (43%) of voters now worry that the government will do too much in response to the economic challenges facing the nation, and an identical number (43%) worry the government will do too little. That is only the second time the number worrying that the government will do too little has matched the number with the opposite concern. A week ago, 46% were concerned that the government would do too much, while 41% feared the government would do too little.

Last fall, 63% worried that the government would do too much.

Still, 62% of voters said they would have liked the plan modified to include more tax cuts and less government spending. A plurality of voters continue to believe that more government spending is bad for the economy while most voters believe that tax cuts are good for the economy. A majority of Americans believe a dollar of tax cuts is better for the economy than a dollar of government spending.

While support is growing for the stimulus plan, the Obama Administration is facing a tougher sell on the plan presented by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to rescue the nation’s financial system. Fifty-six percent (56%) oppose providing more money to the banking system. The public overwhelmingly believes the plan will benefit Wall Street more than taxpayers.

Adding to the concern is public distrust of Congress. By a two-to-one margin, voters believe that no matter how bad things are, Congress can make it worse. Two-out-of-three Americans say that they trust their own judgment on economic matters more than they trust the average member of Congress.

There is a strong bipartisan belief that members of Congress use their position to help political friends and hurt their opponents. Voters also believe it is concern about what Congress can do that motivates most campaign donors. However, voters also think donors typically get more than their money’s worth back in the form of favors from elected politicians.

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