Nearly two years since the first stimulus dollars entered the economy, ProPublica continues to follow where they’re all going with the latest update of our Recovery Tracker.

This story was co-published with Politifact.

"One of the interesting things about the Recovery Act was most of the projects came in under budget, faster than expected, because there's just not a lot of work there."

-- Barack Obama on Sunday, Nov. 7, 2010 in a "60 Minutes" interview

Obama claims most stimulus projects have come in under budget, faster than expected

President Barack Obama says the time is ripe for immediate investment in infrastructure projects such as highways and bridges. With the nation recovering from a recession, interest rates are low, competition among contractors for work is intense and the cost of building materials are low.

2:55 p.m.: This post has been updated with the White House's full report.

The White House plans to release a report today announcing that it met its goal of spending 70 percent of the $787 billion stimulus package by the end of September. If so, there must have been a last-minute push to get more money out the door.

According to early news reports, the administration said it hit its goal by spending $309 million and issuing $242 billion in tax cuts — exactly reaching the target of $551 billion.

The Obama administration is on track to reach a self-imposed stimulus milestone: spending 70 percent of Recovery Act money by the end of September.

The administration set the goal in February, on the first anniversary of the bill. According to our Stimulus Progress Bar that tracks spending, 62 percent of stimulus money has gone out the door, putting $490 billion into the economy. If the administration keeps spending at the same rate it has so far this year -- both in terms of direct spending and tax cuts -- it should easily meet the goal.