(Adds dropped word "not" in eight paragraph)
By Mark Felsenthal
WASHINGTON, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Top White House economic aide Larry Summers on Sunday urged lawmakers to quickly craft a compromise on competing U.S. House and Senate versions of an economic stimulus bill that could be worth as much as $900 billion.
"There are certainly good ideas in both versions and we'll have to draw from those ideas in creating an ultimate vehicle," Summers said in an interview taped for the ABC television's "This Week."
"But the most important thing is that people come together and create the 3 to 4 million jobs. There's 90 percent overlap. We've got to get to closure on the last 10 percent," he said.
Support for education and local governments is key, Summers said.
"There's no question that what we've got to do is go after support for education and there are huge problems facing state and local governments and that could lead to a vicious cycle of layoffs, falling home values, lower property values, more layoffs, and we've got to prevent that," he said.
Lawmakers will have to pick and chose among elements of the Senate and House measures, he said.
"There are respects in which both bills can surely be improved," he said.
Summers, in response to a question, did not comment on reports that an announcement of the bank bailout package might be pushed back a day. ABC asked Summers to confirm that it is more likely Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner would give a speech about the financial overhaul on Tuesday rather than Monday as originally planned, citing administration officials as its source.
"Yes, I think there's a desire to keep the focus right now on the economic recovery program, which is so very, very important," Summers said. (Reporting by Mark Felsenthal; Editing by Bill Trott)