President Barack Obama will kick off a fresh round of speeches on the economy this week, the White House said, in which he will seek to pivot back to the subject before a slew of budget fights later this year.

The first of the series of speeches is set to come Wednesday at Knox College in Galesburg, Ill., where Obama delivered an economic speech shortly after he was elected a U.S. senator in 2005. He'll then travel to the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg, Mo., to deliver remarks later that day.

In a blog post that was emailed out to those subscribed to the White House listserv, White House senior advisor Dan Pfeiffer billed it as a speech "you're going to want to watch."

"The President thinks Washington has largely taken its eye off the ball on the most important issue facing the country," Pfeiffer said.

"Instead of talking about how to help the middle class, too many in Congress are trying to score political points, refight old battles, and trump up phony scandals. And in a couple of months, we will face some more critical budget deadlines that require Congressional action, not showdowns that only serve to harm families and businesses — and the President wants to talk about the issues that should be at the core of that debate."

The White House hinted that a major theme of the speeches will be the economic benefits of immigration reform, which faces a tough path in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.

But Obama is also set to use the bully pulpit to set up what are expected to be a number of fights in the fall over the budget, including the start of a new fiscal year in October and a deadline to raise the debt ceiling in November or December.