The nation doesn't make it's money from external parties, and then spend its money on external parties. You do. Money comes in from outside (your job) and it flows outside (your expenses). A country makes its money from itself and spends its money on itself*.
As a result, what's good for your own pocketbook is completely different that what's good for the nation's pocketbook.
Imagine a situation where a husband works for his wife, and buys goods only from his wife. There's no other sources of income or expenses. What happens when the husband starts spending less? The wife receives less money from his purchases. Which means she has to cut his salary. Which means he has to reduce his spending further. And so on.
Slashing our spending wouldn't actually reduce debt. Because the economy is depressed, that slashing also reduces income. So the cuts create a vicious cycle. Just take a gander at most of Europe to see how it works.
What the country needs to do is spend more now, in order to stimulate the economy. Then once the economy is humming along nicely, we should cut spending when the booming economy can absorb the cuts.
*It's possible for imports and exports to change this somewhat, but the US is not in that situation.
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