instrument lights don't work HELP

My 1991 Pick Up's instrument/dash lights dont' work. I checked the fuse and it looks fine.. (i'll check again). I went to the dealer and the guy said that it'd cost 300 bucks to fix, and that if I don't fix it soon, its gonna cause serious problems. Can anybody give any insight as to what could be wrong? Thanks in advance.

might sound silly ... but have you checked the dash dimmer ?
its a twisty knob on the left I believe , that dims the lights while night driving .

turns out that the headlight switch is broken. the mechanic at the dealer told me it'd cost 325 bucks to get this part. Anyone know if i could just jerry rig it or something like make a custom switch for my lgihts?