Following is President Clinton's statement last night on balancing the Federal budget, as recorded by The New York Times:

Good evening. Tonight I present to the American people a plan for a balanced Federal budget. My plan cuts spending by $1.1 trillion. It does not raise taxes. It won't be easy but elected leaders of both parties agree with me that we must do this and we will.

We're at the edge of a new century, living in a period of rapid and profound change, and we must do everything in our power to help our people build good and decent lives for themselves and their children.

These days working people can't keep up no matter how hard they work one, two, even three jobs. Without the education to get good jobs, they can't make it in today's America. I don't want my daughter's generation to be the first generation of Americans to do worse than their parents.

Now balancing our budget can help to change that, if we do it in a way that reflects our values and what we care about the most: our children, our families and what we leave the generations to come. That's why my budget has five fundamental priorities.