INDIANAPOLIS -- Sen. John McCain said Friday he would win Indiana and that he hoped to visit the state in the final days before the election.

McCain, in a one-on-one satellite interview with 6News' Todd Wallace, said that he wanted to visit the state and that he thought he'd do well among Hoosiers.

"I won't take anything for granted and we need Indiana," he said. "It's the heartland of America and we know it's been hurting from manufacturing job loss and we have to show them that we will create jobs, we will keep people in their homes."

McCain said he supported a plan to issue new mortgages to Americans faced with losing their homes, and that he would work to create thousands of new jobs in fields from nuclear power to off-shore drilling.

Of recent polls showing a tight race between McCain and Sen. Barack Obama in Indiana and across the country, McCain said his campaign was working hard.

"Look, we're the underdog," he said. "We're running 3, 4, 5 points behind, but we're pounding in the home stretch and we have a lot of work to do. I'm very happy with the way things are going, but it's tough."

McCain said he was upset that Obama had opted against taking public financing, and said that he believed the recent surge of money to his campaign would lead to trouble down the road.

"He's decided not to (take public financing) and it's unleashed a flood of money," he said. "And one thing we know from history is when there's a flood of money, sooner or later, there's a scandal."

McCain also defended "robo calls" being made by his campaign and the Republican Party to voters in Indiana. The automated recordings -- which are illegal in Indiana unless a campaign volunteer introduces the message -- have been reported across the state.

McCain said that the Obama campaign was using similar tactics and that all of the claims made in McCain's advertisements were true.

"Our statements about his association with a known terrorist and his wife, who is a terrorist, is very true and the American people need to know the full facts about that and then make a judgment," he said.

McCain mentioned running mate Gov. Sarah Palin's planned visit to Ft. Wayne on Saturday , and stressed that he hoped to come back to Indiana.

McCain's last visit to the state was a July 1 appearance at a sheriff's convention and a private fundraiser.

Wallace spoke one-on-one with Obama in September.