Short term capital gains tax on net stock sales

How are my net capital gains calculated for tax purposes?

Hypothetically, say I make $10,000 in profit on a few stocks I sell this year (short term), but I also sell some stock that I've lost money on in the same year - I sold some at a loss of $8,000 that same year... making my net short term gains only $2,000 positive.

----So, do I just pay short term gains on the $2,000 net? i.e. $2K*[my tax bracket]

OR, do I pay short term gains tax on the $10,000 ($10K*[my tax bracket]), and then write off the $8,000 as a loss from my total taxable income? (which won't drop me to a lower bracket... so it seems like I would lose more to taxes that way than just paying tax on net gains... but I need some help here)
Thanks!