Gov. Jerry Brown's proposed budget for California has touched off not only the annual wrangle over what to spend on what, but also the annual debate over how big the state budget really is.

Officially, the governor's budget for fiscal year 2012-13 is $137.3 billion.

That total consists of a general fund budget of $92.6 billion, $39.8 billion in special funds (the Department of Motor Vehicles and such) and just under $5 billion in bond funds.

But that official number ignores about $70 billion in federal funds funneled through the budget, bringing the total to more than $200 billion, roughly 10 percent of the state's economy.

But wait, as the TV pitchmen say, there's more. Those numbers also don't include another $50 billion or so in public pension payouts.

So – according to the U.S. Census Bureau – total state expenditures would be about a quarter-trillion dollars.