Sex for the first time

My boyfriend and I are ready to have sex, I'm 17 he's 18. We are both seniors in highschool. He's so afraid of me getting pregnant though he doesn't think a condom is enough to keep it from happening and wants me to go on birth control. I don't know how I feel about birth control, he's not forcing me to do it but I know he thinks I should before we have sex. I've told him I can also what when I'm ovulating but I don't know how effective that is. I just need some advice on what to do with the situation.