How many of us actually know and understand what the US budget consists of?

I'm unwilling to react to most of what I read or hear, simply because it is so complex that my fiscally handicapped brain can't take it in, can't separate out fact from propaganda coming from any point of view, and even if I could figure out who or what sources provide simply objective information, I don't have the skills or knowledge to evaluate it. I'm not a genius, but am not stupid. It is pretty scary to not be able to understand well enough to have an informed opinion on major details.

I get that it is absurd to try to deal with the deficit without increasing tax revenues. I also get that significant cuts in spending are needed. I get that for this country to get our fiscal house in order I am going to have to feel the pain of both tax increases and spending cuts. But the devil is in the details. I probably wouldn't get the details if there was actually some agency or group that tried to lay them out objectively.

What I do get is spin and politics and rhetoric make it impossible for an average schmuck like me to develop an informed opinion. It may be that life on this planet has become so systemically complex and overtly interrelated there is more information and more implications for any action than my pea brain can grok.

Anyone else feel lost?