We investigate the target and intensity dependence of plateau in high-order above threshold ionization (HATI) by simulating the two-dimensional (2D) momentum distributions and the energy spectra of photoelectrons in HATI of rare gas atoms through using the quantitative rescattering model. The simulated results are compared with the existing experimental measurements. It is found that the slope of the plateau in the HATI photoelectron energy spectrum highly depends on the structure of elastic scattering differential cross section (DCS) of laser-induced returning electron with its parent ion. The investigations of the long- and short-range potential effects in the DCSs reveal that the short-range potential, which reflects the structure of the target, plays an essential role in generating the HATI photoelectron spectra.