This chart is intended to show changes in the Federal government's budget deficit from 1960 to 2004. The X-axis represents each fiscal year; the Y-axis represents budget surpluses or deficits in billions of dollars. The size of budget deficits steadily increased from 1970 to 1992. After a few brief years of budget surpluses during the Clinton administration, budget deficits have deepened dramatically under the current Bush administration.