With the deadline to avoid the economy going over the “fiscal cliff’’ looming on Jan. 1, senators from both parties struck an optimistic note on Friday that an agreement can be reached to avoid tax hikes and spending cuts totaling $600 billion.

“I am hopeful there will be a deal that avoids the worst parts of the fiscal cliff, namely taxes going up on middle-class people,’’ Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) told TODAY’s Willie Geist. “I think there can be, and I think the odds are better than people think that there could be.’’

“I think in the end we’ll get a deal,’’ Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) told Geist. “The question is the timing of that. It is encouraging that sides are sitting down. They continue to have lines of communication there open, and I view that as optimistic as well.”

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), House Speaker John Boehner and (R-Ohio), and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) are scheduled to sit down with President Obama on Friday afternoon to continue talks, and Congress will continue to work on an agreement through this weekend. 

The average family earning $50,000-$75,000 a year could see their taxes increase by $2,400 in 2013 if a deal is not reached, according to CNBC’s Tyler Mathisen. Income taxes would also increase at every level, taxes on capital gains and dividends would jump, the alternative minimum tax would hit more families, and long-term unemployment benefits would expire. According to the Tax Policy Center, nearly 90 percent of American households would be affected if a deal is not reached or retroactive fixes do not negate the harsher parts of the fiscal cliff.

Schumer believes a positive development signaling a deal will get done is the simple fact that crucial leaders in the process are engaged in talks with the President.

“I am getting a little more optimistic today,’’ Schumer told Geist. “Sometimes it’s darkest before the dawn, and there are two good signs for optimism today. One is that leader McConnell is actively engaged. For the first time, leader McConnell is speaking to the President. If the Senate is going to be the place where action starts, you need both of them there.

“The second reason for optimism is Boehner is back at the table, because you can’t pass something just through the Senate, and we see what a mess the House is; they couldn’t even pass Speaker Boehner’s own Plan B. The fact that he’s come back and the four of them are at the table means to me, we could come up with some kind of agreement that would avoid the main parts of the fiscal cliff, particularly taxes going up on middle-class people.’’

Thune feels the two sides have to reach an agreement on spending cuts because closing the revenue gap cannot be achieved solely through tax increases. The two political parties remain particularly divided on the issue of raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans to raise revenues and close the U.S. budget deficit.

“What we’d like to see is something that deals with spending,’’ Thune said. “We believe this isn’t a revenue issue; this is a spending issue, and that ought to be a part of any solution. Secondly, we ought to focus on jobs and the economy, and anything that is done ought to be focused on what we can do to get the economy expanding. That makes all these problems much smaller by comparison, but jobs and growth ought to be a guiding principle in this discussion, which is why Republicans are so reluctant to go for these big tax increases that the President is trying to get through.’’

“Obviously there are cuts in the budget,’’ Schumer said. “We know we have to cut some of the mandatory programs and do other cuts, but it has to be accompanied with revenues. I am hopeful, and it can be a balanced package. We’ve always said it could be a balanced package, and the problem has not been Democrats being willing to do cuts – we did a trillion of them last year. We’re willing to do more this year. The problem is revenues.’’

The question remains whether the two sides can agree on a specific amount of tax increases and spending cuts in time to avoid a potentially disastrous situation.

“Republicans have been willing to accept the idea that revenues have to be part of this solution,’’ Thune said. “Right now, we’re at a stalemate because the Democrats haven’t been willing to consider the issue of spending, and all they want to deal with right now is tax increases, and that’s bad for the economy. I think that it’s encouraging that people are talking. There is an agreement out there that can be reached.’’

“When push comes to shove, they will find a way to bridge their differences, and it may not be pretty but it will get done,’’ Greg Ip of The Economist magazine told NBC News. “It may get done in such a chaotic fashion that the economy will pay a price.’’

Read more: 

Here's what happens to you if we go over the fiscal cliff

Obama bringing lawmakers to Oval Office for last-minute 'cliff' talks

Politics: Lawmakers brace for blame

Obama to GOP: 'Take me out of it'

GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- Some of Mitt Romney's most deep-pocketed donors will flock to Utah for an exclusive gathering this weekend featuring top Republican political figures and strategists.

More than 100 of the GOP's top fundraisers and bundlers will attend the "First National Romney Victory Leadership Retreat," a weekend-long retreat intended to rally, educate and reward the men and women who have been the primary financial backers of the presumptive nominee's campaign thus far.

The attendees will be treated to presentations, briefing and panel discussions featuring an all-star cast of Republican politicians, including several thought to be among Romney's top vice presidential choices.

Among the possible VP contenders a Romney campaign adviser confirmed would be in attendance are former Govs. Tim Pawlenty (MN) and Jeb Bush (FL), Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. The GOP's last presidential nominee, Arizona Sen. John McCain, will also attend, according to Republican sources familiar with the event's schedule.

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell will speak at one of the weekend's two major dinners, according to a McDonnell staffer.

The Washington Post has reported that Sen. John Thune, Rep. Paul Ryan -- two other rumored VP short-listers will attend, as will Republican power-broker Karl Rove. NBC News has not independently confirmed this information.

"All the major players of the party will be there," Dallas businessman Ray Washburne, who will attend the retreat, told NBC News. "Its kind of a reunion of all the people who worked hard on the campaign so far."

Washburne is indicative of the type of Republican rainmaker the Romney campaign intends to woo, and reward, at the retreat. The real estate developer, investor and restauranteur headed up a recent Romney fundraiser in Dallas that brought in $3.6 million for the campaign, and has co-chaired Romney's fundraising effort in the Lone Star state after the first candidate he supported -- Pawlenty -- dropped out of the race.

The invitees are primarily those donors who have raised enough money to qualify as national finance committee members, one Romney adviser said.

"The party is all falling in behind the candidate now, and this is kind of the first kind of anointment of Mitt by everyone," Washburne said.

On Saturday, attendees will be briefed by top Romney campaign officials, including political director Rich Beeson, and the famously media-averse campaign manager Matt Rhodes, on the state of the campaign and strategy going forward. That night they will also attend the second of two dinners with the candidate himself.

Attendees at the weekend-long retreat will at gather at a resort hotel in the mountains surrounding Salt Lake city, not far from where Romney first rose to prominence by running the Salt Lake City Olympics in 2002, and in the state where he still retains a rock star-like political status.

Romney and his guests will be far from the prying eyes of most media. The entire three-day conference is closed to the press, and Romney has no public events in Utah to draw reporters here otherwise. His campaign has refused most official requests for comment on the conference, including several made for this report.

When the conference concludes at the end of the weekend, the campaign will continue with one major question -- likely to be discussed all weekend -- that will remain unanswered: Was the vice presidential nominee among those in attendance?

"That's all anybody wants to know," Washburne said.

NBC's Alex Moe contributed.

CUSTER, SD -- South Dakota Sen. John Thune said he's open to serving as Mitt Romney's running mate, telling reporters in his home state on Wednesday that it would be tough to ever rule out that option.

"I don’t think you ever rule out or say no to opportunities to public service if you are really interested in making a difference for your country, you want to put your gifts and abilities to the highest and best use,” Thune told reporters following a town hall in the local firehouse here. But, he added, "I don’t expect that to happen but I don’t think you never say never when it comes to serving your country."

Thune seems to have shifted in the way he's spoken about about his contact with the Romney campaign. Just two weeks ago, the senator told The Hill, he had yet to be contacted by the Romney campaign. But today, Thune said, “We talk to him all the time.”

Other than knowing who is leading the search, Romney’s vice presidential selection process has been rather secretive. Thune’s comments come on the same day one of Romney’s top advisers, John Sununu, gave National Reviewone of the first glimpses into the grueling process. Sununu said Thune is “on the list for consideration” for VP.

The small town senator, who even flirted with running for president himself this cycle, seems happy with his current position as the third-ranking Republican in the U.S. Senate.

Being vice president for Thune, he says, is “not a job I aspire to.”

"I like the job I have. I look forward to working with a president, as a member of the United States Senate, that is interested in solving problems," he said. "I think that Gov. Romney and his team will make a very good choice. I think, some of the names I am hearing banging about out there are really good people."

Sources say the senator may soon hit the campaign trail for Romney, perhaps in neighboring Iowa. Thune endorsed Romney in Des Moines, Iowa just before Thanksgiving -– weeks before many other prominent Republicans picked a candidate.

“I came out and supported him [Romney] early because I thought he…represented our best opportunity to win in November and also the guy who was best experienced and had the best skills to govern our country for the next few years, which is not going to be easy,” Thune said, standing in front of a Custer fire truck the day after Romney secured the required 1,144 delegates for the party’s nomination. “I am delighted he has crossed that line and is going to be our nominee because I think it is going to be a great race this fall.”