Cannot afford to pay for filing and am being asked to pay $144 for this service. Why?

The current price shown for online Federal Deluxe is $59.99, one state is $44.99 and if you choose to have your fees paid from your federal refund, the fee for that service is $39.99. If you started in the Free Edition and were required to upgrade to Deluxe, the $144.97 is probably the correct fee. 

If you are eligible, you could use another free product called the free file program. You would need to start over at this web site: https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/2026912-how-do-i-switch-to-turbotax-free-file-program
You qualify if you had $34,000 or less AGI or $66,000 or less military family AGI or qualify for EITC. Click on See if you qualify then Yes (if you do) then Start Now button, then choose Create an Account.