In regards to setting the logging.properties value
org.apache.tomcat.util.digester.Digester.level = SEVERE
... if you're running an embedded tomcat server in eclipse, the logging.properties file used by default is the JDK default at %JAVA_HOME%/jre/lib/logging.properties
If you want to use a different logging.properties file (e.g. in the tomcat server's conf directory), this needs to be set via the java.util.logging.config.file system property. e.g. to use the logging properties defined in the file c:\java\apache-tomcat-7.0.54\conf\eclipse-logging.properties, add this to the VM argument list:
-Djava.util.logging.config.file="c:\java\apache-tomcat-7.0.54\conf\eclipse-logging.properties"
(double-click on the server icon, click 'Open launch configuration', select the Arguments tab, then enter this in the 'VM arguments' text box)
You might also find it useful to add the VM argument
-Djava.util.logging.SimpleFormatter.format="%1$tc %4$s %3$s %5$s%n"
as well, which will then include the source logger name in the output, which should make it easier to determine which logger to throttle in the logging.properties file (as per http://docs.oracle.com/javase/7/docs/api/java/util/logging/SimpleFormatter.html )