Mitt Romney speaks during a campaign rally at Westerville South High School in Westerville, Ohio (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
WESTERVILLE, Ohio (AP) - Mitt Romney says the nation's debt could grow to almost $20 trillion if the country re-elects President Barack Obama.
Romney also says his policies would do more to help middle-class families than the president's.
Campaigning in Ohio, where polls give the advantage to Obama, the Republican presidential nominee combined a sharper focus on the mounting debt with an insistence that middle-class families are struggling.
Said Romney: "I want to help them."
The national debt is $16 trillion and growing. Romney says the interest payments alone cost more than what the U.S. spends on several government departments combined.
Romney planned two additional stops Wednesday in Ohio.