WASHINGTON » President Barack Obama will use his State of the Union address to call on Congress to raise taxes and fees on the wealthiest taxpayers and the largest financial firms to finance an array of tax cuts for the middle class, pressing to reshape the tax code to help working families, administration officials said Saturday.

The proposal faces long odds in the Republican-controlled Congress, led by lawmakers who have long opposed raising taxes and who argue that doing so would hamper economic growth at a time the country cannot afford it.

But the decision to present the plan during Tuesday’s speech marks the start of a debate over taxes and the economy that will shape both Obama’s legacy and the 2016 presidential campaign.

The president’s plan would raise $320 billion over the next decade, while adding new provisions cutting taxes by $175 billion over the same period. The revenue generated would also cover an initiative Obama announced this month, offering some students two years of tuition-free community college, which the White House has said would cost $60 billion over 10 years.

The centerpiece of the plan, described by administration officials on the condition of anonymity in advance of the president’s speech, would eliminate what Obama’s advisers call the "trust-fund loophole," a provision governing inherited assets that shields hundreds of billions of dollars in inherited assets from taxation each year. The plan would also increase the top capital-gains tax rate, to 28 percent from 15 percent, for couples with incomes above $500,000 annually.

Those changes and a new fee on banks with assets over $50 billion would be used to finance a set of tax breaks for middle-income earners, including a $500 credit for families in which both spouses work; increased child care and education credits; and incentives to save for retirement.

The initiative signals a turnabout for Obama, who has spoken repeatedly about the potential for a deal with Republicans on an overhaul of taxes paid by businesses but little about individual taxation, an area fraught with partisan disagreements.

The proposal includes some elements that have previously drawn support from both Republicans and Democrats, including education and retirement savings proposals and the secondary earner credit. A tax on large banks was part of a plan proposed last year by former Rep. Dave Camp, R-Mich., who retired as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee.

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