DANVILLE — In the next month or two, sizable rebate checks will start arriving in mailboxes locally, thanks to the federal government’s economic stimulus package.

Lawmakers would like taxpayers to spend the checks — ranging from $300 for low-income individuals and some seniors to $1,200 for married couples and more for those with children — to stave off a lengthy recession.

And while it’s tempting to use that money to buy a big-screen TV or put a down payment on a car, local financial experts are saying: whoa, not so fast.

“The government wants people to spend the money. That is the idea behind the package,” said Kathy Leary, a certified credit counselor for Central Illinois Debt Management and Credit Education in Danville.

However, Leary said few people are in a financial position to go on a shopping spree with the check.

“The people we see are struggling, and it’s not a good idea to go out and buy more things,” she said. “If they’re behind on their mortgage or a car payment or have credit card debt, they need to use the money to get it current and stop paying fees.”

Better yet, Leary said, is to use the money to establish an emergency fund.

“With $1,000 in an emergency fund, it would cover most car repairs, furnace repairs or a new hot water heater,” she said.

“That’s an excellent thing to do with it, so they’re not overextending themselves and taking out a high-interest loan when something does go wrong,” Leary said.

“Ask yourself: ‘What’s the most fiscally responsible thing you can do with it?’”

Still, Leary said she’s worried some folks might be so eager to spend their check before they receive it that they will fall prey to “unscrupulous lenders who might develop a stimulus package check loan.”

She issued this warning: “Don’t count your chickens before they hatch.”

“Maybe the IRS catches something you owe and your refund is less,” she said.

One concern Linda Lucas Anstey, Vermilion County auditor and certified public accountant, has with the stimulus package is that some senior citizens who usually don’t file a tax return must file a return this time to receive a check.

“Senior citizens who are low income or get Social Security only would have to file taxes so they can get their $300 check,” she said. “They’re the ones who need the money, but a lot of them don’t know they have to file taxes.”

Nancy Towner, a master tax adviser and enrolled agent at H&R; Block on North Vermilion Street in Danville, also advocates taking the stimulus check and starting an emergency fund or opening an Individual Retirement Account.

“An emergency fund is a smart thing to do with it,” she said.

And by opening an IRA, she said, “They will be saving money and getting a saver’s credit (on their tax return) besides.”

Financial adviser Keith Souza of Souza Financial Group in Danville also eschews the government’s advice and says people should use the stimulus check to “pay off debt first.”

“The smartest thing to do is pay off debt instead of spending it,” he said. “It (the check) would go a long way to knocking down credit card debt.”

Towner agrees that some will use the stimulus check to pay down debt.

“I think a lot of people are going to get caught up on bills,” she said.

But Towner said she’s concerned many more people will be tempted to spend the money rather than save it.

“We’re a nation of spenders,” she said. “Six or seven people will spend it because it’s found money; one or two will put half in the bank and spend the other half; and maybe one or two will put all of it in the bank.”