David McCormick is well aware he’s an underdog. Campaigning for the Republican nomination in the 2012 Virginia senatorial election, McCormick is fighting the likes of former Gov. George Allen and Del. Bob Marshall (R-13th) for a spot on the general ticket.

An attorney, law professor and former United Parcel Service management trainer, McCormick spoke Jan. 30 at the Loudoun County Republican Committee. Beforehand, he sat down with the Times-Mirror for an hour-long conversation that touched on his “Reform Washington” and federal budget proposals.

McCormick, a self-proclaimed “efficiency expert,” harped on the importance of paying off the federal debt. His budget proposal aims to simplify the tax code, freeze government hiring and pay raises until the budget is balanced, raise the Social Security age by 18 months and modernize federal accounting and auditing systems.

“I work on the revenue side, too. That’s been the lack of focus of Congress,” McCormick said. “All we hear is cuts, cuts, cuts.”

One highlight of the McCormick budget plan is a three-tier tax rate: 10 percent for incomes of $12,000-$49,999; 21 percent on incomes $50,000-$194,150; and 32 percent on incomes more than $194,150.

McCormick says our trade policies and tariffs with countries such as China, Germany and South Korea need to be altered and made “more fair.”

“We have the best innovators in the world. We’re the most productive people in the world. But the [business] environment is not there.”

He’s interested in auditing every department of federal government to determine waste and where Congress can “trim the fat.”

“It’s restructuring, it’s re-modernization,” he said.

While McCormick did advocate common Republican themes such as business deregulation and focusing more on states’ rights, he drew a distinction from his opponents by noting he’s a political outsider.

The attorney said he would be an independent Republican senator not tied to the tea party, lobbyists or political ideology. As an example, McCormick said he wouldn’t sign the Grover Norquist “Taxpayer Protection Pledge.”

“I want to do what’s right for America, and if my party doesn’t lead in that, I will,” he said.