WASHINGTON — The U.S. government would be allowed to go $1.9 trillion deeper into debt under legislation approved in the House on Thursday, which boosts the overall debt limit to $14.3 trillion, but also includes a budget-control mechanism known as “”pay as you go.””

House lawmakers approved legislation increasing the debt limit on a procedural vote of 217-212, following a tight vote of 60-39 in the Senate last week. It now goes to PresidentBarack Obamafor his signature.

The “”pay-as-you-go”” mechanism requires that any increases in spending be offset with cuts made elsewhere in federal outlays. The language was attached to curb future deficits, and the debt-limit measure including the pay-as-you-go mechanism was voted on separately. It passed 233-187.

The United States is facing a record $1.6-trillion deficit in fiscal 2010 and Obama and legislators are under intense pressure to stanch the flow of the red ink.

The vote Thursday buys the government enough borrowing ability for Congress to put off another vote before November’s midterm elections.

Obama’s fiscal 2011 budget forecasts that the deficit will decline to $1.3 trillion in fiscal 2011. It would fall to as little as $706 billion in 2014 before beginning to rise again in 2015, Obama’s budget predicts.

The president also is planning to set up a bipartisan fiscal commission charged with finding ways to reduce the deficit and bring the budget into balance by 2015.

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