A low cost ballast circuit for fluorescent lamp is provided. A fluorescent lamp is connected in series with a resonant circuit having a transformer. A first switch and a second switch are coupled to switch the resonant circuit. A first winding of the transformer is connected in series with a capacitor to form the resonant circuit. A second winding and a third winding of the transformer are used for generating control signals in response to a switching current of the resonant circuit. The first switch and the second switch are controlled in response to the control signals. Furthermore, soft switching operation for the first switch and the second switch can be achieved by the present invention.