Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner on Wednesday dubbed his first spending plan a “turnaround budget” for a financially shaky state, but Democrats rebuffed his proposed cuts to health care for the poor, government worker pensions, state universities, mass transit and cities across Illinois.

“This is our last, best chance to get our house in order,” the governor declared during a speech that drew tepid applause from the lawmakers he addressed. “Let’s get it done, together.”

Rauner went after some of state government’s political sacred cows: Medicaid; money for Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s beleaguered city budget; the CTA and Metra; public employee health insurance and retirement benefits; and the University of Illinois.

All of those interests sounded dire warnings and geared up their powerful lobbying operations to fight the proposed budget. Some Democratic leaders reacted angrily to the rookie governor’s address, harking back to his days as a partner in a private equity investment firm.

“One of the things Gov. Rauner has to learn is the Illinois Constitution refers to the General Assembly and the governor as partners,” said Rep. Lou Lang, D-Skokie. “He wants to run the government like it's a business, we're middle management, and he's the CEO, and we must take orders. That's not going to work.”

But Senate Republican leader Christine Radogno said Wednesday that Rauner’s call to cut the budget should not have come as a surprise.

“I think people understand that Illinois is in dire circumstances and we absolutely need to change the way we do things,” said Radogno, of Lemont. “This is the starting gun, not the checkered flag.”

In many cases, Rauner’s state budget cuts could simply end up shifting costs: local governments could choose to raise property taxes, state universities could raise tuition and the CTA could increase fares. Such decisions, however, wouldn’t have to be made until after the governor and legislative leaders arrive at a final budget.

Countering the cuts, Rauner committed to a $290 million increase in general state aid to Illinois’ schools and another increase of $25.3 million in early childhood education. First lady Diana Rauner is the unpaid head of an organization pushing more early education for at-risk children.

The governor also wants to hire 473 more guards at state prisons, where understaffing and overtime have become significant issues along with inmate overcrowding.

But even as Rauner detailed his spending priorities and cuts for the budget year that begins July 1, he had little to say about how to fill a $1.5 billion hole for the current budget year as child care providers and social service agencies face payment delays. Rauner said he and top Democratic lawmakers were mere “days” away from a fix, a point acknowledged by Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan.

All told, Rauner said the costs of overcoming “fiscal neglect” by past governors and lawmakers amounted to nearly $7 billion in the new blueprint he proposed.

“This budget is honest with the people of Illinois, and it presents an honest path forward,” Rauner said. “Now is the time to start on a responsible path after years of financial recklessness.

“Instilling discipline is not easy, saying ‘no’ is not popular — but it is now or never for Illinois. It is make or break time,” he said, echoing refrains from his State of the State speech two weeks ago.

Amid the financial doom and gloom Rauner presented to the legislature, the governor also dangled the prospect that he could get behind calls for some increased state revenues. But he said his support would only come after lawmakers approved changes in workers’ compensation, unemployment insurance benefits, limits on civil damage awards and altering public employee pensions — all issues likely to meet resistance from Democratic legislators.

“The governor has said that he feels that he can eliminate the deficits just by cutting state services. I disagree,” said Madigan, who remained tempered in his remarks. “I think that the elimination of the deficits will require a blend. Service cuts, plus new revenue.”

Rauner’s budget sets up a political landscape in which the Republican governor is arguing that the state should significantly scale back government spending and putting the onus on Democrats to push for tax hikes to avoid the cuts. Rauner aides said new revenues were never considered when crafting the budget proposal.

The biggest and perhaps most controversial item on Rauner’s budget agenda was his call to shift current public employees on July 1 into a lower-tier pension classification for new hires that provides vastly reduced retirement benefits. The plan would not affect those already retired, and current employees would keep the pension benefits they’ve earned, Rauner said.

Illinois has the nation’s most underfunded public employee pension liability of nearly $105 billion, and required payments into the retirement funds is estimated at $6.6 billion plus interest in the new budget. Pension payments, along with paying off earlier loans used to cover some pension costs, now total about one-quarter of spending from the state’s checkbook.

Lawmakers previously addressed the pension shortfall in a December 2013 law that curbed cost-of-living increases, raised retirement ages and limited how much of a salary could count toward a pension. Rauner campaigned against that law, contending it did not go far enough to reduce costs, and he had suggested shifting all public workers into a 401(k)-style defined contribution plan. That was made an option for newer employees in Wednesday’s outline.

But unions sued, a Springfield judge put that landmark pension law on hold and the Illinois Supreme Court is being asked to determine whether the changes run counter to a state constitutional prohibition against diminishing or impairing public employee retirement benefits.

Rauner’s new effort to move current workers into the new, lower-tier pension plan also raises constitutional questions. Moreover, lawmakers questioned why the new governor would count on $2.2 billion in savings from reduced pension payments as part of his budget when the matter would face lengthy litigation if it were to become law.

Madigan called that move “reckless,” and Democratic Senate President John Cullerton said Rauner won’t “get those savings from the pension reform ... so he's going to have to come up with some proposals to fill that goal. It's his budget. He's the governor.”

In addition to pension changes, Rauner said he would negotiate changes to state employee and university employee health care, including higher employee payments and reduced benefits, to save $655 million. Rauner also proposed stopping state subsidies for health care for retired suburban and downstate teachers and community college staff to save $125 million.