PEORIA - Standing before employees of a company that has laid off 22,000 workers in recent months, President Obama said Thursday that Caterpillar Inc.'s troubles represent the greater struggling country.

"What's happening at this company tells us a larger story about what's happening with the nation's economy," Obama said.

Obama's stop at an East Peoria Caterpillar plant included another pitch to Congress to approve his massive economic stimulus plan, which he hopes will help create jobs across the country.

But the Democrat acknowledged a quick recovery from the recession would be difficult, noting Caterpillar has laid off workers across the country, including "Peoria, Decatur and Aurora."

"It's only the beginning of what we're going to have to do to turn around our economy," Obama said of his stimulus plan.

After Obama's 20-minute speech, Caterpillar CEO Jim Owens told reporters that because the stimulus doesn't include as many building projects as he would like, the company won't be rehiring its thousands of laid-off workers anytime soon.

"The honest reality is we probably have to have more layoffs before we start hiring," Owens said.

Caterpillar this week offered early retirement packages to 2,000 more workers.

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Obama's Central Illinois stop comes almost exactly two years after former President George W. Bush also stopped at Caterpillar in East Peoria.

At the time, Bush praised the company in a time of its prosperity and held it up as a model when calling for more free trade agreements with foreign countries.

Thursday's Caterpillar visit for Obama was his first Illinois stop of the day, before going to Springfield.

In East Peoria, he delivered the speech before two large bulldozers painted the company's iconic yellow and to a crowd made up of Caterpillar workers, local officials and businesspeople.

Caterpillar employee Ashley Bryan said he worked on a machine in the plant about 50 feet from where Obama spoke.

"I've been watching them the last couple days getting ready," Bryan said. "Lots of new paint."

Bryan said he knows several people who have been laid off recently and knows the tough economy could eventually spell bad news for him.

"If it continues on the downturn, I could be next," he said.

State Sen. Dale Risinger, R-Peoria, said widespread economic distress across the country is why he thought the plant was an apt location for Obama's address.

"If they haven't been affected directly, they know someone who's been affected," Risinger said.

mike.riopell@lee.net|789-0865