In a speech at Georgetown University on Tuesday titled "A New Foundation," President Obama laid out a vision for economic recovery built on five pillars of reform. Addressing, in turn, Wall Street, education, and energy, Obama turned the last half of his speech to the issues of health care and fiscal responsibility.

On health care, Obama called for the creation of "a twenty-first century health care system where families, businesses, and government budgets aren't dragged down by skyrocketing insurance premiums." He noted:

One and a half million Americans could lose their homes this year just because of a medical crisis. Major American corporations are struggling to compete with their foreign counterparts, and small businesses are closing their doors. We cannot allow the cost of health care to strangle our economy any longer.

That's why our Recovery Act will invest in electronic health records with strict privacy standards that will save money and lives. We've also made the largest investment ever in preventive care, because that is one of the best ways to keep costs under control. And included in the budgets that just passed Congress is an historic commitment to reform that will finally make quality health care affordable for every American. So I look forward to working with both parties in Congress to make this reform a reality in the coming months.

Fixing our health care system will certainly require resources, but in my budget, we've made a commitment to fully pay for reform without increasing the deficit, and we've identified specific savings that will make the health care system more efficient and reduce costs for us all.

Pledging to rebuild the economy in a fiscally responsible way, Obama made clear "the key to dealing with our deficit and debt is to get a handle on out-of-control health care costs—not to stand idly by as the economy goes into free fall." He continued:

Nothing will be more important to this goal than passing health care reform that brings down costs across the system, including in Medicare and Medicaid. Make no mistake: health care reform is entitlement reform. That's not just my opinion—that was the conclusion of a wide range of participants at the Fiscal Responsibility Summit we held at the White House in February, and that's one of the reasons why I firmly believe we need to get health care reform done this year.

Read the full text of Obama's remarks here.