Is the choice between financing government spending by taxes or deficits better understood as a choice between taxing today and taxing tomorrow?

The answer is yes, it can be better understood this way.

This is because the government will either have to tax its population now to fund the deficit or take on more debt that its population will eventually need to service (i.e. through taxes). Politically, it is much easier to take on more debt because raising taxes is not a popular option for voters.