Washington (CNN) President Barack Obama checked off another "last" of his White House tenure Tuesday, submitting his final budget proposal to Congress amid the growing din from the campaign trail.

The $4.1 trillion annual budget plan -- nearly always deemed "dead on arrival" to the Republican-controlled Congress -- appeared particularly lifeless this year: Republicans said before the document even arrived they would break the long precedent of hearing from the President's budget chief as they draft their own fiscal blueprint.

Like lame-duck presidents before him, Obama submitted a final budget that includes funding for his top legacy priorities, including combating climate change and expanding health insurance coverage. The plan seeks to increase revenue from taxes by $2.6 trillion over the next decade, largely by changing tax laws.

Obama's budget drafters said the deficit would decrease in the next fiscal year, which begins in October, going from $616 billion to $503 billion. Over the next decade, though, they said the deficit would increase amid increased spending on older Americans' health care.

"The budget is a road map to a future that embodies America's values and aspirations: a future of opportunity and security for all of our families; a rising standard of living; and a sustainable, peaceful planet for our kids," Obama wrote in a message to lawmakers. "This future is within our reach. But just as it took the collective efforts of the American people to rise from the recession and rebuild an even stronger economy, so will it take all of us working together to meet the challenges that lie ahead."

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