Elizabeth Holmes reports from Lubbock, Texas on the presidential race.

Sen. John McCain disputed charges of flip-flopping on his plan to address the housing crisis Friday, saying that his Thursday speech promoting increased government intervention was consistent with his past remarks. “It’s just factually incorrect,” he said, to suggest otherwise.

In speaking to the press for the first time in nearly a week, the expected Republican nominee was supplied with several pages of prepared remarks on his plans for the economy.

He disputed suggestions that his plan resembles legislation sponsored by Democrats Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut and Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts.

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Sen. John McCain is introduced by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg before an economic speech Thursday in Brooklyn. (AP)

Both the Dodd-Frank proposal and the McCain plan would be open to homeowners who owe more on their homes than they are worth. Both would require lenders to write off part of the principal and, in exchange, the new loan would be backed by the federal government through the Federal Housing Administration. The Democratic plan is more expensive, though, and aims to help more homeowners.

McCain said his plan is aimed at the homeowner, not the lender—and hammered home the scope of his plan. “There are hundreds of thousands of homeowners who could benefit from this plan immediately,” he said. He did not mention, however, that the plan is estimated to cost between $3 and $10 billion.

The Wall Street Journal reported today on McCain’s call for a more aggressive government role in addressing the housing crisis just two weeks after he initially suggested a more hands-off approach was appropriate.

McCain stiffened when asked whether his plan amounted to a government bailout. “I said that there shouldn’t be a broad government bailout. I said very clearly and I’d be glad to get the record of what I said,” he said.

He then paused briefly and read from his notes again: “I said that the government has to enact reforms to prevent this kind of crisis from happening and there was a role for the government, and I supported bipartisan solutions that would pass quickly.”