WASHINGTON – Would you buy a car from this man? What about a really expensive health care plan?

President Barack Obama was in full salesman mode Wednesday night as he tried to soothe the public and keep the heat on Congress.

He used his best pitch lines. He wants a public option, not a government health plan. Reform, not radical change.

"If you found out that your neighbor had gotten the same car for $6,000 less, you'd want to figure out how to get that deal," Obama told the nation. "That's what reform is all about – how can we make sure that we are getting the best bang for our health care dollar."

Most people like their current doctor and their current insurance. They don't like paying more each year, but they don't want to heap their grandkids with debt, either.

Obama's prime-time news conference was calculated to pressure Congress to deliver a health care bill before lawmakers break for most of August. It's part of a hard-sell strategy: This week alone, he'll visit two hospitals. He'll be in Cleveland today for a town hall meeting.

Republicans have their own selling points. They call the plan an "experiment" – risky, like some beat-up old jalopy. "Rationing," they warn. Texas Sen. John Cornyn called on Obama to abandon "rash deadlines."

It's a big purchase. Why rush in?

Because, Obama said last night, "if you don't set deadlines in this town, things don't happen. The default position is inertia."

Last week, budget analysts put the price tag $1.6 trillion over a decade, $600 billion more than advertised. On Wednesday, Obama tried to reframe the cost issue.

"If we do not control these costs, we will not be able to control our deficit," Obama said Wednesday night. "If we do not reform health care, your premiums and out-of-pocket costs will continue to skyrocket."

Don't count out this salesman in chief. In just five years, he went from the Illinois legislature to the Oval Office.

That takes someone who can read the customer and knows how to outflank the guys across the street, no matter how many flags they fly.