With the U.S. Senate passing President Barack Obama?s $787 billion stimulus package Friday, residents of Long Island are wondering how it will affect their lives.

Democrats have predicted the stimulus plan, which Obama described as a "milestone on the road to recovery,? will save or create 3.5 million jobs. Key components include investment in infrastructure, alternative energy and extending unemployment benefits.

Republicans, however, argued that the bill contained too much spending and should have focused more on tax cuts, although one of the biggest provisions in the bill is a $400 payroll tax cut for individuals and $800 for couples.

?It contains much that is not stimulative and is nothing short, nothing short of generational theft,? said Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.)

Long Island economist Marty Cantor says despite the passage of the bill, people should not expect results any time soon.

?The tax cuts won't have any impact immediately,? he says. ?It will be over a year?s time and very small, and the entire bill itself won't have an impact on the economy for at least six to nine months.?

Still, Long Island residents say they hope the stimulus bill works.

?We have to do something, and hopefully by the end of the year we may start to pull out of it,? Dan Furer, of Syosset.