AC compressor replacement

I'm terrible with cars. My car was working fine until last fall the air conditioning stopped working. My (local freelance) mechanic said the compressor needed to be replaced, and I got the part off of eBay, but it was a two-day job (evidently the compressor is insanely hard to replace in a Sable), and we could never find two days in a row where both of us were free and it wasn't raining. And then I had to move to a different state.

Now I live in Ithaca, NY, and the car stopped working and gave me a "Check Charging System" error. I had it towed to a mechanic and they said the faulty compressor had caused trouble with a belt, and that replacing the compressor would cost $1,000.00 even if I provide them with the part. That seems like an insane price to me, and I'd like to find another way to get it replaced.

The problem? Every auto shop in this city is always booked for two or three weeks, and local freelance mechanics seem to be literally nonexistent. Here's an example: I had a problem with the car's computer earlier in the spring, and getting it fixed required having the car towed from my place to a mechanic (wait two weeks) and then back to my place and then to a different mechanic (wait two weeks) and then from there to the dealership (wait two weeks), where it cost $600.00 to fix. I can't afford to go months without my car again, much less have to pay for towing again and again.

Does anyone have any advice on what I should do? Is the $1,000.00 price reasonable? Is there a way other than Craigslist to find freelance mechanics? Any help I could get would be greatly appreciated!