Abstract: A packer and pressure differential drilling tool and method of controlled pressure balanced drilling in Big Hole well bores and shafts, characterized by a large diameter packer slideably engaged with the well bore over a drill bit and through which a dual drill pipe operates and isolates drilling fluid from a hydrostatic head of fluid standing in the well bore surrounding the dual drill pipe, the packer functioning as a non-rotatable ram slideable down the well bore and supporting said hydrostatic head and applying the weight thereof to the drill bit through anti-friction bearings, cuttings being flushed through the dual drill pipe by means of aerated drilling fluid or by an upwardly disposed jet pump, or both, so as to establish a reduced and/or underbalanced condition at the bit-to-bore bottom interface and operating the drill bit at an increased rate of penetration while maintaining a higher pressure condition in the well bore above the packer, the packer being weight set or hydraulic set, and the jet pump