President Barack Obama is turning to his biggest television audience of the year to pitch tax increases on the wealthiest Americans and put the new Republican Congress in the position of defending top income earners over the middle class.

As Obama continues to signal what he will propose during Tuesday's State of the Union address, senior administration officials say he will call for raising the capital gains rate on top income earners and eliminating a tax break on inheritances.

Administration officials say the revenue generated by those changes would fund new tax credits and other cost-saving measures for middle-class taxpayers. The officials disclosed details on the tax proposals on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the proposals by name ahead of the president