I found a dealer who had a set of wide cranks. They are square taper, so should fit in place of the aluminum alloy ones that Schwinn put on. Got a Parks crank removal tool from a local bike shop for $11. It threads into the crank and has an internal screw that pushes the crank off the spindle. Of course you have to remove the retaining screw / bolt under the plastic cap first.
If you straight cranks are aluminum, don't think you will be able to bend them. The wide set are chrome plated iron.
Tip on using the crank removal tool. As mentioned, remove the plastic cap, then the retaining bold / screw, then thread the very fine threaded tool into the crank threads. I found it easy to be sure I didn't cross thread by turning the tool CCW till I felt the top thread of the crank drop the bottom thread of the tool down, then turned it CW into the crank till it bottomed. Then you can screw in the internal tool removal bolt to push the crank off the square spindle. It has a button on its end that turns and helps prevent binding of the tool to the spindle. Hope that helps someone.
One other note the tool I bought has a lever attached to the internal push off bolt. The lever will not clear the wide crank, so the lever must be bent up to clear the crank. The rest is duck soup!
Jim