It's a question of terminology. If you go as a tourist, you do not need a visa to visit Cuba. You do need a tourist card, and airlines flying to Cuba generally issue them. That's probably what the charter company got for you, although $95 seems in inflated price. But then the charter airfares to Cuba are pretty outrageous too. I don’t know what AA’s plans are for when they initiate scheduled flights. Cuba now has an actual embassy in Washington and they can issue the tourist card too.
The catch here is that the U.S. government does not recognize tourism as a valid reason for going to Cuba, but that's what Cuba calls it.
Some of the 12 permitted categories require a specific visa. I went as a journalist last year and Cuba required that I get a visa for that purpose.