CHICAGO — The Chicago Bears are set to announce a $4.6 billion plan for a new enclosed stadium and lakefront area, half of which would come from taxpayers, sources said, but the team will have to overcome serious skepticism from several directions.

The stadium itself would cost $3.2 billion to build, with another $1.4 billion in proposed infrastructure improvements, according to sources familiar with the plan who spoke to the Chicago Tribune on the condition of anonymity.

The sources said the Bears plan to pledge $2.3 billion, which include some financing through the NFL. But the Bears’ plan includes an additional $2.3 billion in public financing, along with refinancing outstanding debt for prior publicly financed stadium projects for the Bears and White Sox, according to the sources.

Taxpayers would be on the hook for the proposed infrastructure improvements along with about $1 billion in new borrowing to finance the new stadium south of Soldier Field, the sources said.

To make the plan a reality, the Bears want the Illinois General Assembly to approve $1.5 billion in new bonding for the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority, which carries the debt for prior projects at Soldier Field and Guaranteed Rate Field, sources said.

About one-third of the new borrowing would be used to roll over existing stadium debt, and the plan calls for the new borrowing to be paid off over 40 years, which also would require legislative approval.

Sources said the Bears’ plan calls for the debt to be repaid without raising the 2% hotel tax that currently goes to ISFA.

The details are expected to be revealed at a much-anticipated news conference at noon Wednesday where officials will lay out plans for the domed stadium with increased open space.

The 2% hotel tax has fallen far short of paying off the existing debt. As a result, taxpayers still owe $629 million for past renovations of Soldier Field and Guaranteed Rate Field, whose occupants, the White Sox, also are seeking a new stadium in the South Loop. To finance a new Bears stadium using the hotel tax, the state would have to increase the borrowing limit for the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority.

That could prove to be a tough sell in Springfield, however, where legislative leaders so far have given the Bears, and the Sox, a cool reception.

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