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Sen. Barack Obama promised a better economic state if elected president in a speech at the fairgrounds Monday afternoon, including more college affordability as part of nationwide toured that kicked off in North Carolina.

Obama suggested a service-orientated trade for students to give back to the state in return for $4,000 a year for tuition.

“On a single salary, [my father-in-law] provided for his family and sent my wife Michelle and her brother to college,” Obama said.

And he said it was that same determination that drove his mother to send him to one of the best colleges in the nation.

Obama said when he and his wife were first married, they were spending so much money making loan payments, and therefore, he wants to make it easier for college students in the future.

The senator also discussed the rising prices of gas and other goods and said if Sen. John McCain is elected, it will be more of the same — another George Bush era.