The U.S. Senate's spinning tax-cut roulette wheel finally stopped Thursday night, and the little ball landed on ... $350 billion, with a three-year suspension of taxes on stock dividends.

Less than half was left of President Bush's original $726 billion plan, aspects of which had been folded, spindled and compromised almost beyond recognition. But the Senate crafted a surprisingly robust package that could give the economy the stimulus it needs:

• Eliminating the dividend tax, even temporarily, could boost the stock market and spur investment.

• Tax breaks allowing small businesses to write off $100,000 in equipment purchases will encourage business growth and create jobs.

• Accelerating the child credit increase, tax rate reductions and "marriage penalty" relief will put money in Americans' pockets faster.

Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, came up a big winner, as the package adhered to the symbolic $350 billion "ceiling" he had insisted upon for the past two months. Actually, it's not a $350 billion tax cut - it's a $430 billion cut with $80 billion in "offsets" from federal spending cuts that deficit-hawk Voinovich said gives the package "the biggest bang for the buck."

It faces a tough battle as lawmakers try to reconcile it with the House's $550 billion plan, which reduced but did not eliminate dividend taxes.

But Thursday's most significant development, at least for the long-term health of the economy, may not have been the tax cut itself. In a floor speech Wednesday night, Voinovich called for a full reform of the federal tax code, got a commitment from the White House, and won an amendment "to get a commission in place this year and do some honest-to-God tax reform," he said.

The tax code accounts for 84 percent of the federal paperwork burden, Voinvoich said, and Americans spend 6.2 billion hours a year preparing taxes. It is a tremendous drag on our economy, sapping productivity and making the simplest of economic transactions more difficult.

"One reason why we're in this fiscal situation today is that we haven't looked at what tax regulations make sense or what tax expenditures are relevant anymore," he said.

Voinovich has a natural ally in the House: Long-time reform advocate Rep. Rob Portman, R-Terrace Park, has drawn up his own tax simplification bill. "We have to get on with this revision of the tax code before it becomes a crisis," Voinovich said. Amen. Even if the tax-cut package goes up in flames in conference, Congress and the White House ought to keep a commitment to get serious about tax-code reform.