Mr Swinney delivered his sixth Budget, which he said would boost the economy with extra cash for housing and schools and a fund to boost youth employment.
He also included a "modest" 1% pay rise for Government and NHS staff, and the continuation of the Council Tax freeze.
He said he was constrained by a real terms 3% cut on last year and a 15% cut in the capital budget for spending on new projects.
And he had taken cash from other budgets, switching £700million from resource to capital, and reduced lending to Scottish Water by £45m, which, it is claimed, will have no detrimental effect on the service.
l Mr Swinney announced an extra £40m for affordable housing over the next year and another £80m to fund additional new schools, taking the total from 55 to 67, with a commitment to build them sooner.
l On transport he revealed a £2.5m fund for 14 new hybrid buses and £6m for cycling infrastructure.
l He confirmed £23m already announced to limit the impact of cuts to council tax benefit and a 1% pay rise for Government and NHS workers, but a continued freeze for those earning more than £80,000.
l A plan to invest £15m matched by European Union funds and employer contributions for an initiative to help out of work 18 to 24-year-olds unemployed for between three and nine months.
l An additional £17m is to go on colleges and a energy skills academy in the north east.
l Following the Olympics and looking ahead to the Commonwealth Games, an extra £1m will go to elite athletes, taking that budget to £9m.
Mr Swinney said: "The settlement we received in the UK Spending Review is the toughest since devolution.
"Today I am announcing a Scottish Budget for jobs and growth.
"In difficult economic times this Government is doing everything within its limited power to stimulate Scotland's economy, to invest in our young people, protect households, and support front line services.
"To support the construction industry and inject growth into the economy we will provide an immediate stimulus to the construction industry of £40m through investment in affordable housing.To further assist the construction sector we will increase the schools being built from 55 to 67."
However, Labour claimed the Budget would lead to more job losses in the public sector.
Its finance spokesman, Ken Macintosh, said: "This is yet again another 'pass the buck' Budget from John Swinney.
"Last year he said he planned to steer 'Scotland in a distinct course'. Well, if you think a higher unemployment rate than the rest of the UK and a lower growth rate is distinct then he certainly delivered.
"Today we saw Mr. Swinney trying partially to make up for the mistakes of a year ago on colleges and housing, while asking local government to get rid of even more care workers, nursery assistants and binmen.
"The unfortunate result of this Budget is likely to be the loss of more public sector jobs, but with very little to kickstart the Scottish economy."
In a personal statement, Mr Swinney said:
Yesterday I set out to parliament the Draft Budget for 2013-14. The actions the Scottish Government will take this autumn will provide further investment in construction, skills and the green economy across Scotland.
This budget does everything it can to stimulate Scotland's economy to protect households, businesses and frontline services. Households in Glasgow and the west will benefit from a continued council tax freeze, concessionary travel, free prescriptions and public service workers from a modest pay increase.
The NHS in Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Ayrshire and Arran and Lanarkshire will also see increased levels of funding and local schools will benefit from Scotland's Schools for the Future building programme.
I have squeezed every penny possible out of this budget. Here in Glasgow alone, for example, over 7000 businesses are saving almost £2000 a year through the Small Business Bonus Scheme.
We need to do everything we possibly can to sustain and grow the local economy, which also means investing more than £1billion locally in transport links, infrastructure and skills.
A total of £650million, is to be invested in the first phase of electrifying the train route from Queen Street to Edinburgh via Cumbernauld and Falkirk High.
On the roads, £415m is to go towards the M74 completion, upgrading the M8 from Baillieston to Newhouse and improvements to the M73.
In the city centre, £193m is to be spent creating a merged estate for the City of Glasgow College, now the largest further education college in the country.
And it's not just what's in the pipeline. We're investing in projects already under way and benefiting Glasgow's construction economy.
The biggest example is perhaps the new South Glasgow hospital and lab facility project on the site of the Southern General, with £842m being invested and every single penny from the public purse.
At Glasgow School of Art, a £50m partial rebuild is investing in the next generation of creative artists.
This budget builds on work already begun. We're spending up to £246m modernising the subway, investing in the improved green transport we need for the future. We're contributing £40m to the Glasgow Fastlink, improving transport links to the new Southern and the 2014 Games sites and £116m is going towards the National Indoor Sports Arena.
All this extra capital investment helps the construction sector, which in turn leads to wider economic growth, every additional £100m of capital spending being estimated to support around 1400 jobs across the economy.
But the UK Government needs to realise that more needs to be done to stimulate the Scottish economy even further and provide opportunities for individuals, families and businesses.
