2000 Other Saturn Models Problems with emissions

Engine Mechanical problem
2000 Other Saturn Models Front Wheel Drive Manual 111693 miles

Recently my car engine has been "racing". When I am driving in gears one or two my car will intermittently start to race causing the RPM gauge to shoot up to 3000 and then drop rapidly, etc. When this happens I immediately put the car in neutral and take my foot off the clutch and gas pedal. The RPM's will continue to flucuate breifly until eventually resting at 1RPMs. It has been happening for three days now each time I drive the car. Even when I initially start the car and let it sit in neutral, the RPM gauge will first shoot up rapidly and then continue to fluctuate for the duration as the car sits turned on.

My "check engine soon" light has been on now for the past day or two. I have taken it to my mechanic, and he seems to believe that this is normal for a saturn of this many miles and that there isn't anything I can do about it. Is this the case? Is there something I can do to fix this problem?