1996 Blazer hard to control and noise

I have a 96 S 10 Blazer with about 150,000 miles and just recently (within the last week) it has developed a loud, high pitched screaching noise coming from the front end. At the same time, it got very difficult to control accelerating from a stop. The wheel will***** hard to the left and with hardly any correcting will do the same to the right. It will do that several times and then settle in. It also seems to be more sensitive if there is a dip in the road it will kind of wobble, for lack of a better term, so you have to hold the wheel as still as possible to keep it from heading left or right. The noise accompanies the******** and swerving and then dissapates and finally stops once the wheels settle in and the truck settles in. It also has become harder to control the wheel when coming to a stop. Not to the degree as when starting out but it swerves and turns a bit then too. I can't imagine it is too safe to drive right now but have no idea what it is and not a lot of money to fix it. Hopefully it isnt going to be major. As an observation.I don't believe it to be 4WD as there are no gearshifters inside, but the other day I was turning a corner and there was some loose sand from a recent rain in the road at the intersection. When I crossed the sand and was turning, I could swear the front tires spun out a bit on the sand. Thanks in advance for any info you can give.