I had the same problem last year and it takes ages with just metal polish on a rag (took me about half an hour to get an area 10cm clean), so I'd suggest instead of using a rag use a very fine sandpaper (i.e. something around 1500-2000 grit) soaked in soapy water, and use that with metal polish to take most of the corrosion off, then to polish out those polishing marks go over it with metal polish on a rag which will be a lot easier and take them all out. This will of course only work on an un-lacquered wheel.
Autosol is still quite a good product for initial cleaning, Megs NXT Metal Polysh is also really good on it's own to take out the polishing marks. If you spend a bit more then you can get Belgom Alu which is my second choice of metal polish after Megs.
As someone else said, Poorboys Wheel Sealant is your friend after you've got them clean, although you will need to wash (soapy water is fine) once a week or so and reapply the sealant as it will easily be removed with the roads as they are at the mo, and with brake dust etc