03 Cavalier Check Engine Emisiions Warning?

So a few days ago my check engin light came on and accoriding to the manual that means i need to take my car somewhere to check the emission control on it. I heard all the dealer does to fix it is push some button and dust off a few things... can I avoid the hight costs and time and do this myself? I'd appreciate your expert advice. Thanks

Autozone checks them for free. they'll tell you what code they pulled and a basic idea of whats wrong, come back with what you find out. sometimes its as easy as you didn't tighten the gas cap enough.

thanks , autozone did the trick