In a torrent of budget news [1], the Wall Street Journal's interactive graphic of the federal budget process [2] is something to make you laugh or cry, as you prefer.

Our first reaction to the eight-stage, 27-box graphic is that it could be the basis of a board game for particularly wonky kids. But at a moment when everyone in Washington is combing through President Obama's $3.8 trillion budget proposal [3], with its record $1.6 trillion deficit [4], it's important to remember how long and complicated this process is.

The proposals put forward today have a long way to go before they become real – and the snap reactions you see on the web [5] and Twitter [6], and hear on the news, may change before this is all over.