go (right) to the heart of the matter

To address, discuss, or deal with the most important, basic, or fundamental essence or elements of an issue, problem, or matter at hand. We only have an hour for this meeting, so let's go right to the heart of the matter. The company is facing financial ruin if we don't take dramatic action immediately. The politician's new book about the crisis goes to the heart of the matter of what went wrong. I hope tonight's moderator forces the candidates to get to the heart of the matter they're supposed to be discussing.