Frugal Norm, simple character confronting debts (12)
I believe the answer is:
parsimonious
'frugal' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'norm simple character confronting debts' is the wordplay.
'norm' becomes 'par' (I've seen this before).
'simple character' becomes 'simon' (Simple Simon is a nursery rhyme).
'confronting' says to put letters next to each other.
'debts' becomes 'ious'.
'par'+'simon'+'ious'='PARSIMONIOUS'
(Other definitions for parsimonious that I've seen before include "Miserly" , "Cheese-paring" , "Close-fisted" , "Penny-pinching" , "Frugal" .)