Is the fastest way to prosperity to cut government spending and let the people keep more of what they earn?

It seems that there is a lot of talk about stimulus packages that involve the government spending tons of cash that it doesn't even have and that it will likely be unable to pay back, along with the huge interest that will inevitably be attached to it. It seems that the short sighted infusion will actually cost us more dearly over the long term. Does it make sense to consider another approach that makes more money immediately available to each and every taxpayer - namely, decrease taxes and government spending?