Even with the Fast Path, you will still need to Pay-Per-Return.

No, I'm not aware a lower cost option.  If you can convince them to give you the ProSeries Basic 20 option, that might be a bit lower (after factoring in the Pay-Per-Return fees), but that is supposed to only be for NEW customers.

Because you will no longer be a paid preparer, my recommendation is the use the CD/downloaded version of TurboTax.  If you go into "Forms" mode, the forms and worksheets are identical (or in a few cases, extremely similar) to ProSeries.  You wouldn't be able to transfer from ProSeries to TurboTax, but after the first year of needing to re-enter things, I suspect that TurboTax will be your best option (plus you will be able to e-file).