Mr Balls (R) said the chancellor was "tinkering" around the edges
Shadow chancellor Ed Balls has urged George Osborne to make a swift economic "U-turn", after growth forecasts were slashed in the Budget.
Mr Balls said government policies had "sucked confidence" out of the economy.
But Tory backbencher David Davis called on the chancellor to "go further", with more cuts to corporation tax and capital gains tax.
Mr Osborne insists his strategy is working and says his Budget was aimed at "those who want to work and get on".
In a package of measures announced on Wednesday, the chancellor cut corporation tax to 20% and froze petrol duty rises.
'Borrowing for failure'He also cancelled alcohol duty rises, cut beer by 1p a pint and unveiled measures to boost the housing market.
But he cut his growth forecasts for this year to 0.6% - having predicted 1.2% growth four months ago in his autumn statement.
Analysis
The chancellor can expect support from the vast majority of coalition MPs for his decisions to cut corporation tax, increase income tax thresholds, and boost a sluggish housing market.
But some on his own side want him to take more radical measures to boost economic growth.
David Davis is calling for deeper cuts to corporation tax for small businesses and a reduction in capital gains tax.
Labour are seizing on the independent Office of Budget Responsibility's assessment that attempts to bring the deficit down last year and this year have stalled - and are unlikely to get moving again next year.
They'll also be pressing the chancellor for details of departmental spending cuts during the first three months of this year and what payments the government may have delayed to international institutions in an attempt to flatter the borrowing figures.
The government insists that, relative to the economy as a whole, the deficit has been reduced by a third since coming to office
And figures from the Office for Budget Responsibility suggest the government's efforts to cut the deficit - the difference between money spent and earned in a year - have stalled and it will remain stuck at about £120bn for three years.
Ahead of a Budget debate in the Commons later, Mr Balls told the BBC that while there were some "good things" in the Budget, it had shown "in even more vivid detail than before... that the plan's not working. The economy is not growing".
He added: "If you're a chancellor, if you made a mistake, do your U-turn quickly.
"The longer you wait, the worse it gets, and the harder it becomes politically, even if economically it's the right thing."
He accused the chancellor of having a "self-denying ordinance" which restricted him from do anything other than "tinkering at the edges".
"They are borrowing for failure when they could have borrowed to get the economy moving and actually get the deficit down," he added.
Mr Davis said the government needed to do more to help Britain be competitive in the global economy.
He urged the chancellor to extend the new employment allowance, which will cut National Insurance bills cut by £2,000 for every firm, and cut capital gains tax to 18%.
In his Budget statement, Mr Osborne admitted it was taking longer than expected but insisted "we are, slowly but surely, fixing our country's economic problems".
He told MPs: "This is a Budget that doesn't duck our nation's problems. It confronts them head on. It is a Budget for an aspiration nation."
In other Budget news:
- The UK's national debt will rise to 85% of GDP and not start coming down until 2017/18 - two years later than predicted when the coalition came to power
- A new scheme starting next year aims to help about 75,000 people buy their own homes through shared equity, mortgage guarantees and interest-free loans
- Corporation tax will be cut from 21% to 20%, with the small company and main rate merged
- A 1% public sector pay cap will be extended by an extra year to 2015/16
- A petrol tax rise planned for the autumn has been scrapped
- The alcohol duty escalator, which saw tax go up 2% a year above inflation, is axed and 1p is cut from the price of a pint of beer
Business Secretary Vince Cable admitted the economy was "flat lining" and refused to predict when the "age of austerity" might end - although he thought it "unlikely" to last until 2020.
It all meant Mr Osborne had little room for manoeuvre when it came to tax giveaways, but he found some extra cash by squeezing public spending further and other measures.
This allowed him to bring forward the introduction of a £10,000 income tax threshold by a year, to 2014, in a move that pleased the Lib Dems, who had campaigned on the issue at the last election.
'Miserable Budget'The chancellor ignored pre-Budget calls by Mr Cable and others to borrow more to boost growth with a big building programme.
But he did announce £2.5bn of spending on infrastructure paid for by a fresh public spending squeeze. Details of where the axe will fall will be announced in June when the government unveils its spending review.
Mr Osborne also announced that the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee had been given an updated broader remit, but keeps its 2% inflation target.
Meanwhile, after the Evening Standard tweeted details of the Budget before Mr Osborne had delivered it, the chancellor has asked his top official to conduct a review of the practice of releasing Budget information in advance of the speech.
The Scottish National Party described Mr Osborne's statement as a "miserable Budget" which "just continues along the austerity path that is clearly failing".
Plaid Cymru said the £2.5bn in infrastructure spending was just a "fraction" of what was actually needed.
Green Party MP Caroline Lucas said it was "yet another Budget that treats the public with contempt, continuing to peddle the myth that our national debt and deficit increased due to excessive public spending rather than bank bailouts".
UKIP leader Nigel Farage dismissed Mr Osborne's statement as a "Budget for headline writers" that failed to tackle "the serious problems in our economy".
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