By Mauren O'Donnell

The Second City has become first in the nation for high gas prices, with consumers struggling as oil company profits soar, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said Monday.

"We've got to stop the price-gouging,'' Durbin said.

He took credit for a new Federal Trade Commission probe into record fuel prices as he spoke before a BP station at Roosevelt and Wabash with regular gas selling for $4.25.

"It's awful for the truckers,'' he said. United Airlines' CEO told him: " 'We're poised at the edge of a cliff.' "

Durbin said he urged the FTC to look at fuel prices. The agency last investigated price-gouging after Hurricane Katrina. The FTC agreed to the probe last week, Durbin said.

Durbin approached customer Bill Tracy, 65, after he filled up. "How bad was it?'' Durbin asked.

Tracy, a Chicago retiree who lives in Phoenix, said he was shocked at the price. "It's probably cheaper to fly" than drive, Tracy said.

"It cuts into vacations, it cuts into recreation, it cuts into Little League,'' said carpenter Charles Skow of Kenosha, who spends $110 to fill his Chevy 4x4.

Chicago has the highest average gas price in the United States, at $4.07 a gallon, a Lundberg survey said.