Conservative plans to raise billions of pounds from the 'grubby hands of scroungers' will not work, Nick Clegg warned today as he unveiled Lib Dem plans to balance the books. The Lib Dem leader promised to 'spread the burden' of deficit reduction, with cuts to welfare and Whitehall budgets along with tax rises aimed at the very wealthy. Car tax would rise by £25-a-year. But he scaled back his plans for a mansion tax, amid concern it could cost the party support in key seats in affluent parts of London. Scroll down for video . Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg today promised to 'spread the burden' of deficit reduction, with cuts to welfare and Whitehall budgets along with tax rises aimed at the very wealthy . Mr Clegg set out plans for £5billion in new tax rises, £7billion raised from a crackdown on tax avoidance, £12 billion in public spending reductions and a £3 billion cut from welfare. But he mocked George Osborne's insistence that another £12billion can be found from the welfare budget. Mr Clegg warned that it was 'quite simply impossible' to find savings on that scale without causing 'real pain to millions of families' and some of the most vulnerable people. The Lib Dems set out plans to cap rises in working age benefits at 1 per cent to two years. They would also make changes to the universal credit benefits system and take winter fuel payments and free TV licences away from wealthy pensioners – something the Tories have rejected. At a press conference in central London, Mr Clegg said: 'We are going to spread the burden of finishing the job of fixing the economy fairly across society. 'Yes that means more cuts, but it also means asking the wealthiest to pay their fare share too.' He added: 'Our plan means finding more than £3billion in savings from the welfare budget. Savings which ask wealthy pensioners to make a small sacrifice. 'Savings which involve fair adjustments to universal credit. Continued restraint on the rate of increase of benefits and a ground-breaking plan to reduce benefit fraud and error and get the most vulnerable off benefits and into work.' At a press conference with Lib Dem minister David Laws, Mr Clegg warned that it was 'quite simply impossible' to find £12billion savings from welfare without causing 'real pain to millions of families' and some of the most vulnerable people . Among the Lib Dem deficit-reduction plans confirmed by the party's leader are: . He warned that the Tories 'plan to veer away sharply from the sensible and balanced course we have set together in government'. He continued: 'If you listen to George Osborne you could be forgiven for believing that they intend to find all £12 billion from the grubby hands of scroungers and layabouts. They don't. They can't. 'Finding anything remotely close to that scale of savings is quite simply impossible without causing real pain to millions of families and some of the most vulnerable people in our society. 'With pensions rightly protected, there is simply no benefit out there large enough where you can find £12 billion of savings without hurting children or disabled people.' He added: 'The Conservatives' welfare plans are a dangerous deceit that will end up hurting the most vulnerable people in our society and millions of the poorest working families.' It emerged that the Lib Dems have scaled down the amount of money they expect their mansion tax proposal to generate by £700million. Properties valued at £2 million or more would be subject to the party's so-called 'high value property levy' from 2017-18, which they say would collect £1 billion - down from the £1.7 billion previously estimated. Mr Clegg said adopting a 'reasonable and fair' approach to the policy had resulted in the estimated revenue decreasing. The Lib Dem leader added the charges proposed 'shouldn't scare the horses' and used the same principle as council tax bands in order to prevent oligarchs who live in mansions paying the same property tax as a family. The charge would be £2,000 per year or less for properties valued at £2 million to £2.5 million, £3,500 or less if valued at £2.5 million to £3 million, £5,000 per year or less if valued at £3 million to £4 million, and £9,000 per year or less if valued between £4 million and £5 million. Mr Clegg said: 'It's not fair a family home in Lewisham pays the same property tax as an oligarch in a vast mansion. 'What we're saying is we'll extend the same fair banded approach up the value chain.' Mr Clegg challenged the other parties to spell out in similar detail how they would balance the nation's books . Car tax will increase on average by £25 a year by 2017-18, with drivers of gas guzzlers facing even higher bills under Liberal Democrat plans. Nick Clegg's party plans a review of vehicle excise duty (VED) rates to ensure that the Treasury continues to receive the money it expects as motorists switch to cleaner, lower-tax models. Figures released by the party in a pre-manifesto briefing show an extra £485 million will be raised by the rebanding in 2016-17 and £850 million in 2017-18. At a central London press conference, Mr Clegg rejected the assertion that the tax hike amounted to a new 'war on motorists', insisting the measure was to maintain the 'status quo' on the revenue raised. He said: 'It's a revenue retention measure - we simply want to maintain the same amount of money from the overall vehicle duty system as we set out in 2010. 'This is just to make sure as the system shifts around because people are buying lower emission vehicles, we still generate the same revenue.' Mr Clegg challenged the other parties to spell out in similar detail how they would balance the nation's books. He said the Lib Dems are the only party offering a 'balanced' programme to pay down the remaining deficit and deliver a £7.7 billion surplus, while still finding money to raise income tax thresholds to £11,000 and invest in the NHS. Setting out plans to eradicate the current structural deficit by 2017-18, Mr Clegg said his party was giving an 'unprecedented level of detail' about its financial plans and challenged Labour and the Tories to do the same. Mr Clegg said Labour's plans involved £70 billion more borrowing, claiming 'they are playing Russian roulette with your family's future'. Labour leader Ed Miliband leads a party that 'want you to think they can be trusted to balance the books without saying how they intend to do it', he said. 'They won't even tell you when they want to do it by,' he added. Warning that Labour's plans would involve extra borrowing, he said it would mean an extra £4 billion - £134 for every taxpayer - on debt interest payments. 'It means you, your children, your friends and your neighbours will be left paying for Labour's borrowing for years to come. 'They are playing Russian roulette with your family's future.' Explaining the Lib Dem alternative he said there was 'light at the end of the tunnel'. 'I can't promise you that the next two years will be easy. I wish I could. Your hard work and sacrifice has turned our economy around, but there is still a job to finish. But, with the Liberal Democrats, there is light at the end of the tunnel.'
Lib Dem leader explains how his party would eradicate deficit by 2017-18 .
Includes tax rises, limiting welfare rises and Whitehall spending cuts .
But warns Osborne's plan to cut £12billion will cause 'real pain'
Mansion tax scaled back by £700million but car tax to rise by £25-a-year .