Rick Santorum's plan to slash taxes

Rick Santorum on the campaign trail.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- You can add Rick Santorum to the list of Republican presidential candidates with plans to cut taxes for most Americans, while possibly adding billions to the federal deficit.

Assuming the Bush tax cuts are extended, 69% of Americans would get a tax cut that averages nearly $7,800 under the Santorum plan, according to a new analysis from the Tax Policy Center, a think tank that has been examining each candidate's plan.

At the same time, federal revenue would decline sharply. According to the TPC estimate, the government would collect $900 billion less in 2015, making it much more difficult for lawmakers to reduce the deficit.

Under the Santorum plan, the richer you are, the more you save. Taxpayers in the lowest 20% of earners would receive an average tax cut of $255, a tax rate reduction of 0.3%.

Meanwhile, individuals in the top 20% of earners would get a tax cut averaging more than $29,000, a rate reduction of almost 10%.

And the 1%? They'd get an average cut of $263,000, or 13.6%.

How does the Santorum plan get there?

Perry's flat tax plan: The rich make out

The conservative former senator from Pennsylvania would reduce the number of income tax brackets from six to two (10% and 28%) and triple what his campaign identifies as the personal deduction that parents can claim for their children.

Santorum would also eliminate the so-called marriage penalty, which often causes two-earner couples to owe more in federal income taxes than if they filed as single individuals.

In addition, he would eliminate both the Alternative Minimum Tax and the estate tax. And he would reduce the capital gains rate from 15% to 12%. For businesses, he would cut the corporate income tax rate in half to 17.5% and eliminate it entirely for manufacturers.

Plus, he would increase the research and development credit and reduce the tax burden on U.S. companies that choose to bring back their overseas profits to the United States.

But at the same time he proposes to keep on the books many of the largest and most popular deductions, such as those for health insurance, retirement savings, charitable giving and mortgage interest.