Which engine does this car have? The gates guide (http://www.gates.com/brochure.cfm?brochure=2256&location_id=3487&go=TBHome) says the V6 is an interference engine, but the 4-cylinder isn’t. If yours is an interference engine, if the timing belt breaks the piston crashes into the valve, causing serious engine damage. It’ll make that $1000 sound cheap. If it breaks on I-95 it will stop running and, if an interference engine, make a terrible noise.
Unfortunately, there really isn’t any way to reliably inspect the timing belt, so you’ve got to change it on schedule. Maybe you’ll get away with putting off the repair, but it’s definitely a gamble and it WILL break sooner or later.
As for the price, it depends on your local labor rates and also on what else gets changed at the same time. On many cars it is an extremely good idea to change the water pump at the same time. When I lived on the west coast a lot of shops seemed to use timing belts as something of a loss leader, so calling around might get you a better price (although be sure you know what all they’re proposing to replace when you get estimates so you’re comparing apples to apples).