SPRINGFIELD - A new poll shows a potentially serious disconnect between Illinois voters and the state's budget woes.

The poll, conducted by the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute, found that voters believe budget problems could be solved by slashing state spending.

At the same time, however, the poll found that voters oppose cutting areas such as education and programs for poor people that make up the bulk of the state budget.

The upshot: Illinois politicians need to start talking frankly about finding ways to raise revenue to get Illinois back on a healthy financial footing, said institute director Mike Lawrence.

"There's no painless way out of this budget situation," Lawrence told reporters at a statehouse news conference Thursday.

The poll of 800 voters was conducted Sept. 23 through Oct. 17. It sought to track public opinion on the state's ongoing budget mess, as well as gauge beliefs on how public officials are performing.

Two out of three respondents said state leaders were not doing a good job of putting together a budget. Gov. Rod Blagojevich received positive marks from 9.4 percent of those polled, while the General Assembly was judged as good or excellent 14.9 percent of the time.

The poll comes against the backdrop of a budget fight between Blagojevich and the legislature. The governor plans to close two dozen state parks and historic sites later this year, as well as cut funding for social service programs, citing a deficit of more than $1.4 billion.

The state is months behind in paying vendors for medical and other services to poor people, forcing some private agencies to close their doors or eliminate staff.

The poll found that four out of five viewed the problem as overspending rather than inadequate revenues.

However, overwhelming majorities say they oppose cuts to education, police and prisons, parks, services for the needy or state workers' pensions.

Absent cuts to those programs, Lawrence, a former statehouse reporter and top aide to Republican Gov. Jim Edgar, said Illinois will need some kind of tax hike to climb out of its budget hole.

"We need to have a reality check," Lawrence said.

When it comes to raising money, the poll found that voters supported a graduated income tax, in which wealthier people would be taxed at a higher rate.

But because such a change in tax policy likely would require a change in the state constitution, it could not serve as a quick fix to the state's current financial challenges.

"It has never been more important for Illinoisans to understand what is going on in Springfield," Lawrence said. "They need to be better informed about the options. They need to be told the truth by the people seeking office and by elected officials."

The poll found significantly less support for other revenue generating ideas, such as raising sales taxes, taxing services such as haircuts and dry cleaning or selling state assets.

Respondents were split on whether to expand gambling as a way to generate cash.

Charlie Leonard, a visiting professor at the institute and the poll supervisor, said the results show people don't believe they get a good value for their tax dollar.

Leonard also said it is clear that state leaders who claim the state can balance its budget by cutting waste are misleading voters.

"They have not been leveling with the people of Illinois," Leonard said.

The telephone survey was a joint project of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute and the Survey Research Office at the University of Illinois at Springfield's Center for State Policy and Leadership.

The survey results have a statistical margin for error of plus or minus 3.4 percentage points.

kurt.erickson@lee.net|789-0865