Like an earlier House bill, the Senate plan passed 97-3 Tuesday slashes income-tax rates and the number of federal tax brackets in exchange for wiping out many deductions.

At the same time, the Senate provides for a much smaller increase than the House in total levies against business corporations, leaving individuals with a greater share of the total tax burden--and smaller average tax savings --than under the House proposal.

Sen. Paul Simon, (D., Ill.), one of the three senators who voted against the bill, said that as many as a third of the middle class would wind up paying more taxes under the Senate plan. Sen. Alan Dixon )D., Ill.), expressed similar reservations about the bill, but said he voted for the measure to keep the tax overhaul issue alive and allow any inequities to be addressed by the House-Senate conference committee that will reconcile the two bills later this summer.