(Bloomberg Politics) — U.S. Senator Marco Rubio built upon his reputation as one of the Republican Party's top thinkers on Wednesday, as the potential presidential candidate outlined a plan to rewrite the U.S. tax code to include new breaks for families and lower rates on business income. But parents and job creators might not want to adjust their budgets quite yet.

The plan, written with fellow Republican Senator Mike Lee of Utah, appears more likely to be given airtime in Rubio's stump speeches than in congressional committees that oversee tax law. That's because while Rubio and Lee presented the plan with charts, bullet points and color photos, it's debut contained no actual legislation needed to change current law.

The tax plan is one of several examples of Rubio presenting new ideas without actually writing his proposals into bills, an approach more in line with policy think tanks than Senate offices. At the Capitol Hill press conference, he swatted away repeated questions about the lack of legislation, saying that his goal was to present a "first step" in addressing tax reform. He invited lawmakers to offer their own suggestions, adding that his proposal included more detail "than a lot of people running around this building talking about the need to do tax reform."