(Reuters) – Congressional negotiators on Wednesday raced against a looming deadline to craft a budget deal that would cut billions of dollars in spending and keep the government operating beyond Friday.

To gauge what all the wrangling is about, it is necessary to understand the figures. The Republicans are trying to cut around $40 billion of the budget, which stands around $4 trillion. For a little perspective, here is a chart I made on Kid’s Zone:

Perhaps the Congress could use an exercise in the powers of ten: