President-elect Barack Obama campaigned hard on a pledge to cut income taxes for 95 percent of all Americans -- those making less than $250,000 a year.

Now that he's about to take office, what does his plan really mean, and what cuts are actually likely to be made?

While on the campaign trail, Obama and his Republican rival, Sen. John McCain, argued about the fate of tax cuts passed by Congress and the Bush administration, beginning in 2001. The Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 was notable in that it was passed only on the condition that its provisions be temporary. Unless its status is made permanent by Congress, its tax cuts expire in 2010.

Some of the highlights of these tax cuts include lower tax rates, larger standard deduction for joint returns, marriage penalty relief, a larger child credit, higher alternative minimum tax exemption levels and the 2008 economic stimulus payments.

A Treasury Department report shows possible cumulative savings to taxpayers when all the Bush tax cuts are brought into play. For example, a four-person, one-earner family with two children with an income of $40,000 in 2007 may have experienced a total of $19,016 tax relief from 2001 to 2010, depending on how such a family might claim exemptions and itemize deductions. For a four-person, one-earner family with two children and an income of $80,000, the money saved on taxes over the 2001-2010 period may have been $17,381, again, depending on the exemptions and deductions.

Obama has indicated that he may favor making some aspects of the Bush tax cuts permanent. Which aspects? That depends on the results of hearings, debate and negotiation taking place right now in Congress.

Some of the cuts Obama said he would make to keep his campaign pledges include: a refundable "Making Work Pay Credit" of 6.2 percent of up to a maximum of $8,100 of earnings; a refundable "Universal Mortgage Credit" of 10 percent; eliminating income tax for seniors making less than $50,000 a year; a $1,000 tax credit for low-wage earners; a $4,000 tax credit per dependent for college expenses; extend the childless Earned Income Tax Credit phase-in range and increase the phase-out threshold; and increase the EITV phase-in rate to 45 percent for families with three or more children.

What do these cuts actually mean? According to Obama's official Web site, his proposed tax plan would result in the following cuts: a married couple earning $75,000 with two children (one of whom is in college), would get a $3,700 tax break; a married couple with no children making $90,000 a year would receive a $1,000 deduction; a single person under the age of 65 with no children and no mortgage and making $40,000 a year would receive a $500 tax cut; a single parent making $40,000 a year with two children and childcare expenses could receive a $2,100 deduction; and a 70-year-old widow making $35,000 a year would receive a $1,900 tax cut.

To figure out what deductions you might qualify for, there are a number of online calculators, including a simple one on Obama's Web site. Another Web site,Election Taxes, published by Jeff Gramlich, an accounting professor at the University of Southern Maine, also allows users to estimate their taxes based on the tax plan on which Obama campaigned.

Some of Obama's tax cut proposals are woven into his proposed stimulus package and are already coming under fire. Some of his fellow Democrats say the individual tax cuts won't do much to stimulate the economy or create jobs.

They were also critical of a proposed $3,000 tax credit for companies that hire or retrain workers.

So, what part of Obama's proposed tax cuts will actually happen? His official fight for his campaign promises begins on Inauguration Day on Jan. 20.