1 The Soviet legislature approved a 1990 budget yesterday that halves its huge deficit with cuts in defense spending and capital outlays while striving to improve supplies to frustrated consumers.
2 The vote to approve was
3 A proposal to raise prices of beer, tobacco and luxuries was rejected 338-44.
4 Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev told the legislators they had made a good start, but that the most difficult work was still ahead.
5 The Tass news agency said the 1990 budget anticipates income of 429.9 billion rubles (US$693.4 billion) and expenditures of 489.9 billion rubles (US$790.2 billion).
6 Those figures are almost exactly what the government proposed to legislators in September.
7 If the government can stick with them, it will be able to halve this year's 120 billion ruble (US$193 billion) deficit.
8 Officials proposed a cut in the defense budget this year to 70.9 billion rubles (US$114.3 billion) from 77.3 billion rubles (US$125 billion) as well as large cuts in outlays for new factories and equipment.
9 Tass said the final budget and economic plan calls for a sharp increase in the production of consumer goods.

Soviet President Mikhail S . Gorbachev told the legislators they had made a good start , but that the most difficult work was still ahead .
difficult
Why is the work going to be difficult?