WASHINGTON — Republican Congressional leaders on Monday countered President Obama’s deficit reduction proposal with a plan of their own that is far heavier on spending cuts but embraces $800 billion in new taxes over the next 10 years.

The counteroffer represented an acknowledgment by Republicans that they had to issue their own proposal to head off around $600 billion in automatic tax increases and spending cuts next year, a fiscal combination that could send the economy back into recession. They said that their approach was a move toward the center rather than sticking to a position established last year with the passage of the House Republican budget, which included contentious changes toMedicare and Medicaid and deep domestic spending reductions.