SMA SEES LTT ACFT APCHING IN A DSCNT AND TAKES EVASIVE ACTION. NO TA FROM ATC.

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WHILE FLYING ON AN IFR FLT PLAN (ENW DIRECT RFD V63 CVA DIRECT MLI); SMA X WAS TOLD TO FLY DIRECT TO THE RFD VORTAC LEVEL AT 4000 FT MSL. UPON INITIAL CONTACT WITH ROCKFORD APCH WE WERE ADVISED WE WERE IN RADAR CONTACT. THE HDG TAKEN TO FLY DIRECT WAS APPROX 240 DEGS IN VISUAL FLT CONDITIONS. SMA X WAS GIVEN NO INFO ON TFC IN THE AREA AND THE COM BTWN ROCKFORD APCH CTL AND OTHER ACFT GAVE NO INDICATION OF EVENTUAL NECESSITY FOR AVOIDANCE. THE SUN WAS SETTING AT THAT TIME WITH A SCATTERED TO BROKEN LAYER OF CLOUDS AT HIGHER ALTS TO THE N OF OUR POS. AS I WAS SCANNING IN THAT DIRECTION (NWESTERLY) I NOTICED A RED LIGHT IN THE UPPER R HAND CORNER OF MY WINDSHIELD AND I FOCUSED MY ATTN TEMPORARILY IN THAT DIRECTION. I QUICKLY FIGURED OUT THE SHAPE OF A DSNDING JET ACFT (LTT Y JET TYPE) WHICH WAS APCHING AND DSNDING WINGS LEVEL INTO OR VERY CLOSE TO MY LEVEL FLT PATH. AS SOON AS POSSIBLE I TURNED N TO GO BEHIND THE LTT Y TO AVOID CONFLICT SINCE IT WAS TOO CLOSE TO DETERMINE IF THE LTT Y WOULD PASS BY SAFELY. I THEN RETURNED BACK TO OUR ORIGINAL HDG WHILE MAINTAINING OUR ASSIGNED ALT. I QUICKLY CONTACTED ATC AND QUESTIONED THEM ON THE LACK OF TFC ALERTS. THE CONVERSATION BTWN MYSELF; ROCKFORD APCH CTL AND THE JET IN QUESTION IS AS FOLLOWS TO THE BEST OF MY RECOLLECTION. SMA X: 'ROCKFORD APCH CTL THIS IS SMA X; ARE YOU GOING TO GIVE US TFC AVOIDANCE CALLS BECAUSE WE JUST HAD A JET GO BY US.' RFD APCH: 'DID THAT LTT Y (TFC ?) PASS BEHIND YOU?' SMA X: 'NO SIR; HE WENT RIGHT IN FRONT OF US AND I MOVED TO AVOID HIM.' LTT Y: 'ROCKFORD APCH; WE HAD THE SMA X TFC AND WE PASSED BY A LOT CLOSER THAN IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN.' ROCKFORD APCH: AFTER A LONG PAUSE; 'ROGER LTT Y WE ARE FUNCTIONING ON CENTER RADAR; OUR PRIMARY RADAR IS OTS AND WE ARE GIVEN INFO FROM THEM AND SOMETIMES THE INFO IS DELAYED QUITE A BIT.' LTT Y: '...IS THAT SMA X VFR TFC?' ROCKFORD APCH: 'AH; ROGER HE IS VFR.' AT THIS POINT WE WERE CONTINUING ON DIRECT TO THE ROCKFORD VORTAC AND RECEIVED NO COMS AFTERWARD CONCERNING THE NEAR MISS OR ANYTHING ELSE. SMA X WAS ON AN IFR FLT PLAN FOR AN INST XCOUNTRY WITH AN IFR STUDENT FLYING AT THE TIME OF THE INCIDENT. SMA X DEPARTED IFR FROM ENW AND WAS IFR THE ENTIRE TIME ON THIS XCOUNTRY (ENW - MLI - DBQ - ENW). THE REF BY THE LTT Y PLT AND THE CTLR INDICATES FAULT ON MY PART FOR LACK OF AVOIDANCE WHEN IN FACT I DID 'SEE AND AVOID' WHILE OPERATING IN VFR CONDITIONS. THE LTT Y ACFT WAS ALSO OPERATING IN VFR CONDITIONS AT THE TIME AND MUST SHARE THE AVOIDANCE RESPONSIBILITY. THE CTLR SHOULD HAVE BEEN ABLE TO SEE THE LTT Y ON RADAR AND SEQUENCE MORE SEPARATION BTWN BOTH ACFT.