Around here (right down the street from you)
$300 - $400 is about average labor cost for clutch replacement
You are looking at an extra $80 - $120 for the clutch kit
+ $$ a little extra for some tranny oil as needed.
A clutch replacement will be challenging at best if you have little experience, but definitely not impossible. If you have a second car, and can spare a weekend or two... And if your are as eager to learn as you say... then this clutch job is as easy as they get, so it would be a great choice to get your feet wet.
But someone with the right facilities, tooling, and experience could have this job done in about 4 hrs +/-