FLINT, Mich. -- TV5’s Sam Merrill spoke with Barack Obama about the big issues Monday after the Democratic senator spoke at Kettering University in Flint.

Obama chose the most economically distressed state in the country to lay out his most detailed plan yet for the economy.

Obama calls it the Competitiveness Agenda, which include specific plans for education, including $10 billion for early childhood education.

He also outlined a $150 billion investment in green energy, which he said would lead to 5 million new jobs in the next 10 years.

Merrill asked Obama about trade deals that many think have cost this region so many jobs -- and how he convinces laid-off workers who've been outsourced two and three times to embrace globalization.

During the speech, Obama also pledged universal health care by the end of his first term.

But his hardest sell in Mid-Michigan could be the idea of globalization -- Obama said American workers can't retreat from the global economy, even though trade deals may have cost the region jobs over the years.

Merrill also asked the senator about a Web site the campaign has set up to counter attacks made against the candidate and his wife. Obama responded by saying, "If there are untruths out there, we just want to make sure the internet is moving just as fast to correct the lies as they were in spreading them."

The senator was endorsed Monday evening by former Vice President Al Gore at a Detroit rally.

In a press release Monday, U.S. Representative Dave Camp, R-Mich., a senior member of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee, issued the following statement following Sen. Barack Obama’s economic speech:

"After hearing Sen. Obama's plan, two things are clear: he plans more taxes to increase spending, and his taxes on energy and small businesses will hurt Michigan's ability to create new jobs.”

Camp went on to say, “Increasing these taxes will halt our recovery before it ever begins. Sen. Obama gives a good speech, but Michigan needs more than that right now. We need someone who truly understands the pressures and challenges American employers face. Increasing their tax load is clearly not the path to job creation.”