Magento Retrieve simple product price for configurable product - magento

Question

We have a configurable product called with sku TEST and under it are simple products (for example) red-ven1, red-ven2, blue-ven3, etc. The configurable product itself does not have a price but each simple product does. I need to retrieve the price for the simple product based on the attributes that are selected. So I need the price for red product with vendor 2. How do I get this specific price? I am currently trying to dynamically display the price next to the vendor attribute (so vendor attribute is not selected). Will I have to "invisibly" select the vendor attribute value to get the price? Please advise.
Currently Trying:
<?php $_product = $this->getProduct(); ?>
<?php $_price = $_taxHelper->getPrice($_product, $_product->getPrice()) ?>
<script>
var price = <?=$_price ?>;
/...lots of non-applicable code
for(var i=0; i < IDs.length; i++)//traversing the vendor detail nodes
{
//Invisibly make selection of vendor so as to gather correct price
var optionToSelect = $j('option', '#attribute136').filter(function() {
return $j(this).text().indexOf(data[i].vendor_id) != -1;
}).val();
var vals = $j('#attribute136').val() || [];
vals.push(optionToSelect);
$j('#attribute136').val(vals);
$j('.details'+data[i].vendor_id).append('<li class="priceBlock">$'+price+'</li>');
}
});
</script>

Answer 1

After some research I figured out this is pretty hard to solve on your own. If you're willing to spend a few bucks this is a great extension:
http://www.magentocommerce.com/magento-connect/simple-product-pricing.html