I am a resident of IL and recently received a ticket in GA. I wanted to know if I can take a defensive driving class up here in IL to keep the ticket off my record. Can anyone help me on that?

I believe this option is only available in the County where the citation was issued.

Since there is a substantial fee charged for this, the county that issued the ticket
Wants the funds and would not accept you paying for a class elsewhere.

The option will be up to the judge in Georgia, some states allow the use of a traffic court, but you will have to ask permission of the GA judge,

In some courts yes they will let you, but you will have to ask the judge in GA.

Today there is no need of sitting in classroom to take defensive driving course. There are many online traffic school course available which will help you to sit at your home or any please with a computer and a internet connected to it. So, there is no question of where to do the course. You can do the course of IL sitting at GA.
I recommend http://www.onlinetrafficschoolus.com site to take up the course I personally cleared a ticket at these people.