2002 Saturn Vue Turn signals stop, require engine restart

Last October I bought a 2002 Saturn Vue 2.2 L 4 cyl manual transmission, with 51,000 miles on it. I noticed some clicking in the steering column during turns. A month later, the turn signals began to stop blinking without notice, mid-blink or mid-turn or just not blink at all. When this happens, both left and right signals are affected. Hazards work fine, everything in the steering column works fine while the turn signals don't work.

The signals can be 'reset' by turning the engine off and on again. At first, the problem happened only occasionally but now is occurring more and more frequently. In fact, now they don't work more often than do. I replaced the blinker fuse, just in case that might help (though I didn't expect it to, and I was right).

What can be causing this? Is it something I can fix myself? (I'm sorry I can't donate more. I have been unemployed for a year and am on a strict budget.)