Dodge Repair: A/C Compressor Evaporator Repair, dodge caravan, mechanic

Question
I have a Dodge Caravan SE, 1996 that I just bought AS-IS from a dealer. The A/C doesn't work and I thought it could just be the compressor. I took it to a mechanic and he says it's the compressor but that most likely the evaporator is bad too. I looked on a couple of autoparts sites and it seems that the parts are not too expensive but he's telling me that it could run up to 3G's. I trust the mechanic so it's not a matter of wheather he's trying to ****** me but I didn't ask about the following...

Is it that expensive because of the labor involved?

Is it possible that I could do it myself? I'm not very handy at all but my brother is and I'm sure he could help.

Thanks

Answer
The A/C Repair Is Way out of line..... The evaparator Price Should be around 1000.00 the compresor price should be around 700.00. this is the parts and labor price
the job should take about 8 hours to do so maybe you should ask how much per hour and how many hours is he charging you

steve