Most voters think it is important to balance the federal budget but not if it means higher levels of taxes and government spending.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that only 36% of Likely Voters would rather have a balanced budget with higher levels of taxes and spending than a deficit with lower levels of taxes and spending. Forty-one percent (41%) prefer a deficit with lower taxes and less spending, while another 23% are undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on March 16-17, 2013 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.