After formally unveiling his economic team on Monday, President-elect Barack Obama said their first order of business will be helping him draft an economic recovery plan.

Obama said he expected to have the broad outlines in the “coming weeks,” and the recovery package will likely be the first order of business on Capitol Hill in January.

“It is my hope that the new Congress will begin work on an aggressive economic recovery plan when they convene in January,” Obama said during a press conference in Chicago today.

“I think the most important thing to recognize is that we have a consensus, which is pretty rare, between conservative economists and liberal economists, that we need a big stimulus package that will jolt the economy back into shape and that is focused on the 2.5 million jobs that I intend to create during the first part of my administration. We have to put people back to work,” he said.

But Obama left key details unfilled, including the size of the package and precisely what tax and spending elements it will contain.

That suggests that congressional leaders will have some say over the specifics of the program. Obama will need 60 votes in the Senate to overcome any filibuster by GOP critics of his plan, so he may need to postpone plans to increase taxes on the wealthiest Americans.

Over the weekend some lawmakers suggested the stimulus package – expected to include spending on infrastructure and aid to the states – could grow to $700 billion. On Monday, Obama declined to put a specific price tag on the coming legislation.

“It is going to be of a size and scope that is necessary to get this economy back on track,” Obama said. “I want to see it enacted right away.”

Democratic leaders in Congress promised to speed the Obama package through quickly.

“We will work quickly to pass a substantial economic recovery package that creates good-paying jobs here in America, cuts taxes for the middle class and stabilizes a volatile market,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid , D-Nev., said. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi , D-Calif., echoed that pledge.

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