The United States has more public debt than the UK has, by a large margin:
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/eco_pub_deb-economy-public-debt
US - 60.8% of GDP
UK - 43.6% of GDP
You might note that Canada has a higher public debt than either country, yet seems to be only indirectly effected by the crisis. Our banks are as steady as a rock. Most of the trauma is from the general economic slowdown, the collapsing North American auto industry, and falling commodity prices.
Perhaps a more relevant statistic would be domestic credit to the private sector, which "refers to financial resources provided to the private sector, such as through loans, purchases of nonequity securities, and trade credits and other accounts receivable, that establish a claim for repayment."
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/eco_dom_cre_to_pri_sec_of_gdp-domestic-credit-private-sector-gdp
The top country on this list is the country which has been hit hardest by the crisis, Iceland, with the United States close on its heels. But once again, Canada is right up there, with our financial system relatively unscathed.
If you're trying to single out the one most important factor in this current economic crisis, I don't think the answer is as simple as debt.
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