President Obama will address a joint session of Congress at 7 p.m.  EDT to unveil “The American Jobs Act,” his much-anticipated plan to create jobs and boost the economy.

The president is expected to urge Congress to act on a “bipartisan agenda” that will include measures that he believes lawmakers can act on immediately as well as new proposals, such as tax breaks to encourage employment and new infrastructure projects.

The White House says the plan will be fully paid for and will include proposals that, if acted on, will bring the unemployment rate below 9 percent. The legislation will likely come with a price tag in the $400 billion range.

“[The president] will put forward measures that Congress can take as part of passing this jobs and growth package to ensure that those measures are paid for. The important factor here is not the top line number; it is the substance underneath the number,” White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said Wednesday.

“The substance here will be a series of measures that should have and have had in the past bipartisan support; that have been judged in the past and will be judged beginning tomorrow night to have the kind of positive economic impact that we absolutely need right now to spur growth and create jobs.  And he will call on Congress to act,” Carney said.

The president will take his jobs plan on the road in the coming months starting with a trip to Richmond, Va., on Friday.