Getting a handle on the budget is easy. Stop the various war's (like that's gonna happen). Heck THAT is the main reason for the debt right there, Afghan and Iraq.
Kill the space program as well, I could care less if there's water on Mars and speculation about colonating another planet is science fiction we don't need and can't afford. Heck, we can't take care of our own planet, let alone turn Scott S. loose with a chain saw on some other planet.
Did anybody notice we just recently went through the biggest economic crisis since the Great Depression? Recovering from that is a huge part of the whole budget thing. Duh, you think it's gonna be cheap digging ourselves out of this hole?