Vanadium oxide thin films were deposited on $c-Al_2O_3$ (001) substrate by in-situ RF magnetron sputtering. Oxygen partial pressure was adjusted to prepare thermochromic $VO_2$ phase. X-ray diffraction patterns and scanning electron microscopy convincingly showed that plate-like $V_2O_5$ grains were changed into round-shape $VO_2$ grains as oxygen partial pressure decreased. After the optimized deposition conditions were fixed, the effect of substrate temperature and orientation on the optical properties of $VO_2$ thin films was analyzed.