It's all relative. Everyone else has more debt. Also, the US budget deficit has been shrinking, thanks in part to the economy starting to grow. As that continues it should go into surplus, just like it did in the late 90's.
As for inflation - again, that is yesterday's war. We're currently in a global deflationary period and as China devalues against the dollar, while the Chinese might experience some inflation as a result, Americans should experience deflation. Gold looks very overvalued to me at the moment...
We are exporting our inflation to China, and that's something they are not happy about. They have been very successful trading products for dollars, but they are looking for ways to hedge through buying hard assets: oil, copper mines in Africa, other natural resources, airports, ports, etc. - and YES... gold. Big time. Their official reserves are understated, and they are still interested in keeping the price down as they continue to accumulate, as are the world's central banks. However, gold may play a starring role in a global re-set to save the system from a debt implosion.