We need a flagship gaming experience on par with Civilization II.

CNN: Star Trek: Birth of the Federation

The data only go back to 1955 but I am betting the real burden in 1990s was on par with the burden right after World War II, when the US government also ran a surplus on the back of high taxes and declining military expenditure.

FORBES: How Heavy Is the Federal Debt

In spite of a devastating defeat in World War II, Japan had emerged from the rubble to be again acknowledged a world power on par with the strongest nations of the West, and accepted as the world's second-largest economy after the United States.

CNN: Building On A Golden Age