1998 Honda Civic A/C USED to work!

When I first purchased my car I had broken off the original button for the a/c activator to cool the car. For the past year I had to manually use a pen to press the clicker to get my a/c (cooling, heating works fine) to work. Recently it stoped working and the light no longer glows when I press the clicker. (Sorry for bad terms, car n00b) I took it to a honda dealer ship thinking it was going to be a simple repair but they are saying the whole curcit board is busted and its going to cost 497, and when I asked for a more detailed report (labor/parts) they said the part was 500? No labor charge (BS!), What shall I do? I want to repair this myslef cause I think its a simple repair. Ow and the other buttons work fine its just the A/C button.