The national economic meltdown has opened a $2.1 billion hole in the current state budget that will have to be closed with emergency cuts and fiscal maneuvers – and the elimination of planned pay raises for state workers, Gov. Jon Corzine said Friday.

“We’ve got a tsunami coming,” Corzine said. “I’m confident we’ll get through it.”

Speaking to reporters from his Statehouse office, Corzine for the first time provided key elements of his plan to slice the $32.9 billion budget, which took effect in July but cannot be sustained because of plummeting tax revenues.

Corzine said he wants to make $812 million in spending cuts, including some that will require legislative approval. The governor will pull back $500 million from his $650 million plan to pay down the state’s long-term debt — a proposal he had trumpeted as a big achievement of the budget.