WASHINGTON (CNN) - President Bush will hold a prime time news conference Thursday at 8:00 p.m. ET to discuss Social Security and energy.

The president will offer "more specifics" on how his proposal to revamp Social Security would work, and he will lay out "ideas for a bi-partisan solution," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said on Wednesday.

Under the president's proposal, younger workers would be given the option of creating private investment accounts funded with Social Security payroll taxes. Bush has said that the benefits of current retirees would not be affected.

Democrats have been strongly united in their opposition to accounts and have criticized the president for not providing more details on his ideas for revamping Social Security.

Republicans, meanwhile, have accused the Democrats of doing nothing more than naysaying. On Tuesday, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), called those bad-mouthing the reform plans of the president and others to come up with a plan of their own.

Bush is slated to complete on Sunday a 60-city, 60-day tour, during which he has called for change in the nation's retirement program for the elderly.

The tour was billed as an opportunity to educate the American people about the president's ideas to reform the Social Security system.

Bush has acknowledged that individual investment accounts do not by themselves address the solvency of the Social Security system. To address solvency, Bush has said he will consider many options, including raising the retirement age, lifting the amount of payroll earnings subject to Social Security tax and adjusting the formula used to calculate benefits.

A recent ABC News/Washington Post poll showed the president faces obstacles in changing the popular program: 64 percent of respondents said they disapprove of Bush's plans to change Social Security, while only 45 percent said they support the president's ideas -- down 11 percentage points since March.

McClellan said Bush on Thursday would also discuss his ideas for addressing the nation's growing energy needs. "The American people are concerned about the price at the pump," the spokesman said.

Thursday's event would mark Bush's fourth prime time East Room news conference since taking office in January 2001.