WASHINGTON - While the financial crisis has left a "deficit of trust" between the Main Street and Wall Street, the US economy and society would prosper if everyone gets a fair share of opportunities and wealth, said US President Barack Obama on Tuesday.

Major banks that were rescued by the taxpayers have an obligation to "go the extra mile" in helping close that deficit, Obama said in a thought-provoking speech in Osawatomie, Kansas.

"At minimum, they should be remedying past mortgage abuses that led to the financial crisis, and working to keep responsible homeowners in their home. We're going to keep pushing them to provide more time for unemployed homeowners to look for work without having to worry about immediately losing their house," he added.

Income inequality would distort US democracy, Obama stressed, citing figures that in the last few decades, the average income of the top one percent of Americans has gone up by more than 250 percent to $1.2 million per year, while over the last decade, the incomes of most Americans have actually fallen by about six percent.

The financial crisis triggered by the "breathtaking greed of a few" has claimed jobs, homes and the basic security of millions of innocent and hard-working Americans, he charged.

"There has been a raging debate over the best way to restore growth and prosperity, balance and fairness. Throughout the country, it has sparked protests and political movements, from the Tea Party to the people who have been occupying the streets of New York and other cities. It's left Washington in a near-constant state of gridlock," Obama noted.

The United States is facing a "make or break moment" for the US middle class and those who are striving to get into the middle class, he added.

"I believe that this country succeeds when everyone gets a fair shot, when everyone does their fair share, and when everyone plays by the same rules," Obama said.

The United States should make education a "national mission", as a higher education is the surest route to the middle class in the country, said Obama.

"The unemployment rate for Americans with a college degree or more is about half the national average. Their income is twice as high as those who don't have a high school diploma," he noted.

The world's largest economy should beef up investments in key sectors including infrastructure and education to create more jobs and improve the nation's competitiveness, Obama noted.