You pay a fee when you incorporate and you pay franchise taxes ever after. These are modest compared to income tax, property tax and sales tax, but they are the price you pay for being incorporated. Shareholders vote annually for a board of directors. The board of directors sets policy for the corporation and hires employees to manage it and do its business. If you are incorporating a solo business, you may be the only shareholder and only employee of the corporation.
Some states require others to serve on the board of directors and be corporate officers.
Some states let one person do it all. The most celebrated benefit you get from incorporation is protection from lawsuits if you are a shareholder. The most a shareholder can lose in his or her investment in the shares of the corporation. If you are the human being, the plaintiff will sue both you and the corporation. Then let's say the protection works.