George Osborne has said that a government "spending splurge" to offset the recession risks economic ruin.
In a speech to the London School of Economics the shadow chancellor branded Gordon Brown "irresponsible" for suggesting the government can "borrow without limit" to stave off recession.
Voters have a choice between future Labour tax hikes to repay huge national debt, or a Tory "responsible road to recovery" which will eventually bring down levies, he said.
The strongly worded speech is a further sign that the Conservatives are trying to toughen their attack on Labour's handling of the economic crisis after the breakdown of a cross-party approach
Osborne signalled that, while unemployment and lower tax revenues always drive up borrowing during recession, there is no excuse for increasing state spending.
He said borrowing without limit is the "weak, irresponsible choice", and makes it more difficult for the Bank of England to achieve a "sustained reduction in interest rates".
"It saddles this generation and the next with a burden of debt that could take a decade or more to pay off," Osborne said.
"It means you end up spending more on paying debt interest than defending your country or educating your children. It means damaging tax rises at the very moment when you want to be reducing taxes to help the recovery."
The shadow chancellor added: "Gordon Brown's talk of a spending splurge tries to give the impression of activity and action, when in fact it is the road to economic ruin... under Gordon Brown everyone knows we will have higher taxes for many many years to come."
Osborne will promise to "stick to fiscal responsibility", while interest rate cuts and measures such as freezing council tax "get money in people's pockets".
"By ensuring that we don't borrow without limits in a recession, we will open the way to lower taxes in the recovery.
"So there's the choice in British politics: irresponsible borrowing now and higher taxes later under Labour; or the responsible Conservative plan. Let the Bank of England cut interest rates now and lay the ground for lower taxes later."
Earlier, the shadow chancellor told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme that there was "great scope" for the Bank of England to further reduce interest rates.
Asked by how much, he said: "That in the end is a judgment for the Monetary Policy Committee.
"We are 4.5 per cent which is a lot higher than the US at the moment, at one per cent, so there's clearly great scope to reduce interest rates."
He said: "Let the Bank of England do its job by cutting interest rates, and offer targeted help by freezing the council tax but also keep people in work by, for example, cutting payroll taxes for small businesses.
"And don't end up in a position where, because you have spent beyond control, borrowing without limit, you have saddled this economy with so much debt we spend a decade trying to get out from under the mountain of debt the government has left us with."
Dods Parliamentary Communications Ltd