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WASHINGTON D.C. (AP) -- Updated 3:10 p.m. on Dec. 5, 2011

CHICAGO (AP) - The struggling U.S. Postal Service says it's moving forward with plans to slash its budget by $3 billion by closing more than 250 mail processing centers around the nation, including nine in Illinois.

The cuts announced Monday would slow first-class mail service, ending next-day deliveries of stamped letters.

The list of processing centers to be closed released earlier this year includes facilities in Bloomington, Carbondale, Centralia, Chicago, Effingham, Fox Valley, Quincy, Rockford, and Springfield.

But the fight to save the centers is far from over. A spokesman for U.S. Rep. Don Manzullo says the plan makes no sense and Manzullo is demanding the postal service produce data that justify the move.

The plan calls for closing a center in Rockford and moving its operations to Madison, Wis.

Click here to find a news release from the U.S. Postal Service.

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Get ready for a big change to your mail delivery.

Monday the U.S. Postal Service is expected to propose changing the standard for first-class mail delivery to between two and five-days.

That's according to industry officials who have been briefed on the changes.

Right now, the agency says most customers get first class letters one to three days after they are mailed.

It's all part of the U.S. postal Services ongoing cost-cutting measures.

No word on when the plan would take effect.

(Copyright ©2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)