LOS ANGELES -- Republican gubernatorial candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger, providing details for the first time in his 2-week-old campaign, emerged from a high-profile economic summit Wednesday with a pledge that he wouldn't raise state taxes except in emergencies.

But the actor-turned-candidate wouldn't detail what spending cuts he would make to erase the state's deficit because, he said, his advisers couldn't make "head or tails" of the state's budget. He said he would conduct an audit to determine where to make the cuts.

"We must never again commit Sacramento to mortgage our children's future to unconstitutional deficit spending," he told reporters at an airport hotel. "We must immediately attack the operating deficit head-on. Does this mean we are going to make cuts? Yes. Does this mean education is on the table? No. Does it mean I'm willing to raise taxes? No."

In his first wide-ranging press conference, Schwarzenegger called for a constitutional cap on spending, cheaper energy prices and reform of the workers' compensation system in California. But he provided no details about these proposals.

He sought to insulate himself from the criticism that he has already encountered about his failure to provide specific proposals for erasing the state's deficit or repairing its economy.

"Before the carping begins about the need for the 25-point plan on each one of those items, let me be clear that these problems I just mentioned were not created in two weeks, nor will we be able to solve these problems in two weeks," he said. "Anybody who is out there telling the people of California otherwise (is) just a typical politician."

That didn't stop his critics from weighing in.

Ken Khachigian, a Republican political consultant who had been working for U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, before the congressman dropped out of the recall race, watched much of Schwarzenegger's press conference and said he heard very little detail.

"What I saw wasn't different from what he'd been saying," Khachigian said, "which was sort of vague and indirect."

Schwarzenegger is one of 135 candidates vying to replace Gov. Gray Davis should the voters recall the state's top executive on Oct. 7.

A new statewide poll released Wednesday found nearly six in 10 likely voters favoring Davis' ouster and Schwarzenegger holding a slight edge over Democratic Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante among the contenders to replace him.

According to the Public Policy Institute of California survey, 58 percent of likely voters say they would vote to recall Davis.

About one-third of likely voters said they have not decided which candidate they support to replace Davis if the recall succeeds. Among likely voters who said they have decided, 23 percent said they support Schwarzenegger and 18 percent back Bustamante. None of the other contenders received more than 4 percent support.

The results were based on interviews with 993 likely voters and carry an error margin of 3 percentage points.

A day after Bustamante detailed his budget plan, Schwarzenegger met behind closed doors for about two hours with his 20-member California Economic Recovery Council, chaired by billionaire investor Warren Buffett, a Democrat, and former U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz, a Republican.

Seated at the head of a horseshoe-shaped table and surrounded by his council of advisers, Schwarzenegger, Shultz and Buffett opened the meeting with brief remarks to the press.

Reading from a prepared text, Schwarzenegger cited the "horrifying" unemployment statistics from last month in which half of the nation's job losses came in California and promised to bring a "positive business climate" to the state.

Then he went behind closed doors to meet with his advisers, including former California Secretary of State Bill Jones; Assemblyman John Campbell, R-Irvine; consultant Michael Boskin; Democratic investor Warren Hellman; and former state Trade Secretary Julie Meier Wright.

After the meeting, he appeared before a horde of reporters and joked about one of his box office flops: "I would have wished to have this kind of turnout when we did 'Last Action Hero.' "

Reading from a prepared text, the multimillionaire celebrity portrayed himself as siding with the people and against the politicians to "take action" against California's "No. 1 problem," the economy.

He picked up on campaign themes first explored in a 60-second ad that began airing statewide Wednesday by saying he would arrive in Sacramento "without any baggage" from special interests or campaign contributors.

Schwarzenegger announced he would convene a special legislative session after his election to reform workers' compensation laws. He sounded Republican themes, saying Californians are "overtaxed" and "overregulated."

"The people of California have been punished enough," he said. "From the time they get up in the morning and flush the toilet, they are taxed. ... This goes on all day long. Tax, tax, tax, tax."

But he wouldn't pledge never to raise taxes, he said, because they might have to be increased to pay for emergencies, such as an earthquake or a terrorist attack.

Schwarzenegger renewed his support for the property tax-cutting initiative, Proposition 13, and joked about opposition voiced last week by his Democratic co-chairman, Buffett.

"The thing I told Warren is if he mentions Proposition 13 one more time, he has to do 500 sit-ups," Schwarzenegger said.

The former bodybuilder declined to provide any details about spending cuts, saying the budget is "so crazy" that he couldn't make "good decisions." Instead, he said he would hire outside auditors to assess the budget within 60 days of his taking office. From that information, he said he would determine where to make the spending cuts needed to balance the budget.

The Republican candidate expressed confidence that he could work with the Democratic-controlled Legislature because "I have lived with a Democrat for 17 years." His wife, Maria Shriver, is a Democrat and a member of the Kennedy family.

He sidestepped questions about paid family leave legislation that has come under fire from business and declined to take a position on Proposition 54, an initiative also on the Oct. 7 ballot that would restrict the collection of race-based data by state and local governments.

Meanwhile, Davis on Wednesday continued to seek help and reassurance from Democratic leaders and from core constituencies.

The Democratic National Committee has decided to send former White House spokeswoman Ann Lewis to California to coordinate national anti-recall efforts with the governor's team, a Davis spokesman said.

Meanwhile, Davis met privately in Los Angeles with African American ministers whose congregations collectively represent more than 100,000 voters. Those ministers also will urge members to go to the polls to reject Proposition 54.

The Rev. Cecil L. "Chip" Murray of First AME Church said Davis has "a very slim chance" of keeping his job.

"Oh, man, there is no drama that could bring him any landslide," Murray said before the meeting.

"I just think we're in an era now where every single vote counts, and we are fighting for an underdog who is a friend."

Another minister said Davis told church leaders at the meeting to instruct their members to vote against the recall but to mark Bustamante as a replacement candidate in case the recall succeeds.

"He said as a safeguard for the Democratic Party, it would be wise to select Bustamante," said the Rev. Leonard Jackson, president of the Los Angeles Council of Churches. "We're not sure how many people will turn out in this election. So we have to tell people, when you step in to vote, vote that entire ballot."

In the afternoon, Davis was joined in Santa Monica by Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., to announce the release of $50 million in bonds for environmental protection.

Then he headed to a Los Angeles studio to tape a town hall-style meeting.

There, he said, candidates who wish to replace him should come up with a specific plan for managing the state -- "not just sound bites."

"It's fine for Arnold to say 'no taxes,' " he said. "You just ask him, 'Where are the cuts, Arnold?' "