58% Back Clinton Economic Plan, Survey Finds : Public opinion: Times Mirror poll shows only 27% oppose tax hikes and spending cuts. Support remains high, despite growing opposition.

WASHINGTON — Americans by a margin of 2 to 1 continue to voice support for President Clinton’s program to revive the economy and reduce the budget deficit, despite mounting opposition from Republicans and Washington pundits who criticize it as flawed and inadequate.

A nationwide Times Mirror poll, conducted over four days ending Tuesday, shows that 58% of Americans favor the plan the President outlined to Congress Feb. 17. The tax hikes, new spending and cuts in existing programs were opposed by only 27% of those surveyed, while 15% were unsure.

The findings are virtually the same as those of a Los Angeles Times Poll conducted last Thursday and Friday and two other polls taken the first two days after Clinton’s address. Taken together, the polls have indicated that American support has remained high for nearly a week even as the plan was tested by public debate and Republican opposition.

The support comes from Americans of all ages, races, educational levels and regions of the country. The program was favored by 84% of Democrats and 55% of independents, but only 30% of Republicans. A majority of Republicans--51%--voiced opposition.

The Times Mirror poll also shows, however, that Americans opposed to the program have been more likely to share their opinions with friends and neighbors than have been supporters of the plan. Seventy-three percent of those critical of the plan say that they have talked about it with others, while 64% of supporters said they had done so.

Those back yard discussions could “erode support for the Clinton program over time among key groups,” the Times Mirror Center for the People & the Press said in an analysis accompanying its poll. The survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Among those who support the program, Americans who voted in the presidential election for independent candidate Ross Perot may be the least enthusiastic, the poll found. They favor the program by a margin of 49% to 34%, with 17% unsure.

The poll indicates that Clinton’s coast-to-coast campaign selling the program as “shared sacrifice” has been highly successful so far, winning majority support even though more Americans, 59%, said they believe the program emphasizes tax increases, while just 23% said it emphasizes spending cuts.

Another encouraging sign for Clinton is that most Americans indicated they do not expect the program to benefit them financially in the short run and they seem to be willing to wait for it to work.

The survey found that 42% of respondents thought that they would be worse off in 1993 if the plan goes into effect, while 33% said they believe that they would be better off. But when asked their views of the future, 51% said that they think they will be better off in three years if the plan is approved and 58% said that the nation will improve.

Those views vary significantly depending on respondents’ preferences in the November election. Those who supported then-President George Bush say that they expect the program to leave them worse off in both short and long runs. People who voted for Clinton expect to be better off in both time periods.

Perot supporters are more equivocal: 55% said that they expect to be worse off in the next 12 months, while fewer, 41%, said they anticipate being worse off three years from now.

Clinton’s program, the subject of a public relations blitz by the President and his Cabinet, has received more public attention than any presidential policy or proposal since Times Mirror began its periodic public interest surveys in 1985. Times Mirror Co. is the owner of the Los Angeles Times and other newspaper, broadcasting and publishing enterprises.

At least 64% of those polled said they had discussed the plan over the previous five days with friends and neighbors. And 48% said they had paid “very close attention” to news about the program.

By comparison, public interest in Bush’s policies reached a peak of 40% in September, 1989, after he announced a war on drugs. Only 34% followed very closely Bush’s attempts to negotiate budget deficit agreements with Congress during October-November, 1990.

The latest Times Mirror poll was based on a sample of 1,516 adults, 18 years of age or older.