I am farther south than you (we left that area last spring to move to Wilmington, and I tell you there are lots more of Jo-field refugees down here besides me!) and I found a group of stay-at-home/part-time/work-at-home moms through yahoo groups. Just go to the Yahoo homepage and click on the groups section and do a search. If you are interested in driving 20 min south for playgroups you can look us up under momsandtotsplaytime. We have twice monthly group playdates, one-on-one playdates whenever with whoever, mommies-night-outs, mommy-only coffee "dates", and various other things going on. If you want to stay more local, I would just do a search and I'm sure there are several similar groups in your immediate area.
As for the work-at-home thing, we are expecting daughter #2 in June (my first turned two just before Halloween) and I am planning on starting an in-home childcare for just a couple kids, either 2 full time or up to 4 part time. If you've ever paid daycare rates you know how much money you can make. Two kids full time can turn out to be over $200 a week. Some states are very strict about daycares being licensed and IL is not generally one of them. I believe if you have 4 or fewer children, total, in your home, meaning you could take 2 on full-time, you are not legally required to have any sort of license. If you go a bit over that number I'm quite sure no one is going to say boo about it. There are legal liabilities of course, but you can draw up some sort of contract for clients if that worries you a lot. You are entitled to both vacation and sick days, like any other job.
We decided that since it would be a while before baby can play with our daughter, and she's still a year or two off from starting legitimate preschool, this was a good idea. 1. It keeps me at home where I want to be. 2. It will bring in much needed money. And 3. It will provide live-in playmates for Claire which she very much needs for proper socialization. Now in your area there is less of a demand for childcare (down here there are really no formal business style childcare centers, mom run operations only) but I'm sure given the population you could get at least a couple kids, with no trouble and with the ability to choose which child you let in your home (I was told to have a 1 week free or half priced trial period to weed out the truly naughty).
So good luck with both situations and if you decide to check out our group (we have a group playdate this Friday!) I would love to see you!